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NEW TRAILS IN 
MEXICO 

AN ACCOUNT OF ONE YEAR'S EXPLORATION IN 
NORTH-WESTERN SONORA, MEXICO, AND SOUTH-WESTERN ARIZONA 

1909-1910 



BY 

CARL LUMHOLTZ, M.A. 

MEMBER OF THE SOCIETY OF SCIENCES OF CHRISTIANIA; GOLD MEDALLIST OF THE NORWEGIAN 

GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY; ASSOCIE ETRANGER DE LA SOCIETE DE L'ANTHROPOLOGIB 

DE PARIS; AUTHOR OF "AMONG CANNIBALS," "UNKNOWN MEXICO," BTC. 



WITH NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS 
INCLUDING TWO COLOR PLATES AND TWO MAPS 



NEW YORK 
CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS 

I 9 1 2 







Copyright, igii, by 
CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS 



Published October, 1912 



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K 





?.CI.A320830 



TO 

THOSE WHO LOVE NATURE 
IN ALL ITS ASPECTS 






PREFACE 

During the years 1909 and 1910 I was commissioned 
by some influential friends to look into certain economical 
possibilities of the arid and httle known country along 
the upper part of the Gulf of California, east of the Colo- 
rado River. My field embraced most of the District of 
Altar, in the State of Sonora, Mexico, as well as the 
southern part of the newly admitted State of Arizona; 
in other words, the region which by the early Spanish 
chroniclers was designated as Papagueria, after the native 
inhabitants, the Papago Indians. Some of this country, 
being the least accessible part of the Sonora Desert, 
is singularly little known, though lying, so to speak, at 
the door of the great empire of Yankee enterprise. My 
mission gave me an opportunity for geographical and 
ethnological studies, an account of which is here presented 
in popular form. For this opportunity I am grateful to 
my friends. 

Among my predecessors in exploration of the Papa- 
gueria should be mentioned Prof. W. J. McGee, well 
known from his studies of the Seri Indians, lower down 
the Gulf. In the nineties he made journeys through 
parts of this region and he has published interesting ac- 
counts of the desert and its natives. In November, 1908, 



viii PREFACE 

Drs. D. T. MacDougal and W. T. Hornaday made a 
month's trip from Tucson, Arizona, to the Pinacate region, 
both publishing descriptions which were accompanied by 
maps by Mr. Godfrey Sykes. These gentlemen, accord- 
ing to their own reports, had no opportunities for extensive 
explorations of the Papagueria, which I found of such in- 
terest that my expedition occupied me over a year. The 
extreme western part of this region, the sandy country 
between Pinacate and the Colorado River, so far as my 
knowledge goes, had not before been investigated. The 
travels here of the Jesuit fathers during the seventeenth 
century did not extend much south of the present Mexican 
boundary. Some of that country probably had not be- 
fore ever been visited by a white man, and I have there- 
fore described that part of my journey in greater detail, 
thinking that an accurate account may prove of value 
and even of practical interest. 

This region, no doubt, recently had a less arid climate, 
with much greater rainfall than at the present time. It 
seems impossible to explain otherwise the recent great 
accumulation of detritus at Sonoita, at the origin of the 
little river of the same name, or the marked effect of the 
action of the water on the hard rocks of Tinaja de los 
Papagos. That country is a desert, on account of the 
scarcity of rain, but the soil is in places extremely fertile 
and I doubt not that through human agency large parts 
of it will some day delight the eye with waving fields of 
grain and orchards of fruit. 

Although most of that arid region will always remain 
suitable only for cattle and horse raising, still there is 



PREFACE ix 

more of it than people realize which can be brought under 
cultivation. I may mention the extensive valley which, 
south of the Mexican boundary line, runs east and west, 
passing beyond Sonoita, the great plains north-east and 
south-east of Pinacate, as well as the middle course in 
most of the flat valleys; for instance, many of those be- 
tween the Gila range and the ranges following as far east 
almost as Silver Bell, extending in the west as far north 
as the Gila River. The problem of water is bound to 
be solved at some future time, as soon as the necessity 
arises. Water may be found at a depth of from fifty to 
a hundred feet, but at most places one would have to go 
several hundred feet down. Judging from the extraor- 
dinary springs I encountered on the shore of the salt 
deposit, Salina Grande, near the coast, there must be a 
large sheet of fresh water underneath most of that western 
coastal desert. This inference seems to be confirmed by 
the flow of water which was found in digging the well, 
near Horseshoe in the Quijotoa Range. 

The mineral prospects of the region, especially as 
regards gold, are great. There are numerous large veins 
south of Sonoita which should be examined and the moun- 
tains of the western desert explored. Free gold which 
undoubtedly has been encountered in the malpais in the 
northern part of Pinacate should also be followed up. 

The extraordinary adaptation to arid conditions of 
plant and animal life, even the domesticated animals 
of Indians and Mexicans subsisting without difficulty for 
months without water, cannot help but interest the ob- 
server. With the exception of the Seri and Pima Indians 



X PREFACE 

the natives of the desert have so far received little attention 
from those engaged in the study of primitive races. The 
Papagoes are the great desert people of America and are 
remarkably stable in their racial characteristics, still pre- 
serving traditions and habits of the past which will soon 
disappear. There are also ancient remains left since 
the occupancy of that same country by people who had 
a higher state of development than the present-day Ind- 
ians. Original documents relating to the history of the 
region are not always of easy access, and I have not had 
an opportunity of consulting them. 

In spite of excessive heat in the summer the nights are 
always cool, and the climate is salubrious and even in- 
vigorating. During three months in the spring I travelled 
without wearing a hat, which made me feel comfortable 
and actually cooler. The one drawback to a journey 
in those regions is, of course, the want of water, and, be- 
cause of this, caution is necessary, but this need not inter- 
fere with the enjoyment of the freedom of the wilds. I 
can understand the expression of an enthusiastic person 
who for the first time felt the charm of the desert: "I 
am drunk with out-of-doors!" When I, in the easy sur- 
roundings of civilized life, read my notes from the field, 
it sometimes occurs to me that this or that which I went 
through was well done; but what in civilization appears 
as hardship, privation, or risk amounts to little when act- 
ually happening, even if one is, as the Irishman said, 
*'a thousand miles from home and fifty miles from any 
place." 

To the lover of nature in all aspects, this land of "si- 



PREFACE xi 

lence, solitude, and sunshine" cannot help but present a 
strong fascination. The wonderful colors of the late 
afternoon, the glorious sunsets, the peace and calm of 
night, the thrill that accompanies the early dawn of the 
morning are sources of constant delight to the traveller. 
Besides, an expedition of this kind directs one's thoughts 
into other channels than those of the ordinary humdrum 
of life. The starlit sky, under which one sleeps with im- 
punity, invites imagination to take flight Into the infinite 
universe, and one has time to reflect on the beauty of 
existence and the grandeur of nature, a pleasure which is 
denied to most dwellers in cities. 

During my travels I used an Army Sketching Case, 
designed and patented by Glenn T. Smith, topographer. 
United States Geological Survey, and I collected besides 
a large amount of data of geographical Importance. Of 
the region traversed by me a considerable portion appears 
on the hitherto published maps as blank space. The 
International Boundary Commission, which takes in 
generally from two and a half to three miles on each 
side of the boundary. West of Meridian iii, west of 
Greenwich, and south of Parallel ^^ only one topo- 
graphical sheet, that of Yuma, has been published by 
the United States Geological Survey. 

In making the map herewith presented, as a base for 
starting, the Atlas sheets of the International Boundary 
Commission have been used. In Arizona the word 
"range" has been employed as a synonym for the 
Spanish sierra. This is generally in conformity with 
the usage of the South-west. 



X PREFACE 

the natives of the desert have so far received little attention 
from those engaged in the study of primitive races. The 
Papagoes are the great desert people of America and are 
remarkably stable in their racial characteristics, still pre- 
serving traditions and habits of the past which will soon 
disappear. There are also ancient remains left since 
the occupancy of that same country by people who had 
a higher state of development than the present-day Ind- 
ians. Original documents relating to the history of the 
region are not always of easy access, and I have not had 
an opportunity of consulting them. 

In spite of excessive heat in the summer the nights are 
always cool, and the climate is salubrious and even in- 
vigorating. During three months in the spring I travelled 
without wearing a hat, which made me feel comfortable 
and actually cooler. The one drawback to a journey 
in those regions is, of course, the want of water, and, be- 
cause of this, caution is necessary, but this need not inter- 
fere with the enjoyment of the freedom of the wilds. I 
can understand the expression of an enthusiastic person 
who for the first time felt the charm of the desert: "I 
am drunk with out-of-doors!" When I, in the easy sur- 
roundings of civilized life, read my notes from the field, 
it sometimes occurs to me that this or that which I went 
through was well done; but what in civilization appears 
as hardship, privation, or risk amounts to little when act- 
ually happening, even if one is, as the Irishman said, 
*'a thousand miles from home and fifty miles from any 
place." 

To the lover of nature in all aspects, this land of "si- 



PREFACE xi 

lence, solitude, and sunshine" cannot help but present a 
strong fascination. The wonderful colors of the late 
afternoon, the glorious sunsets, the peace and calm of 
night, the thrill that accompanies the early dawn of the 
morning are sources of constant delight to the traveller. 
Besides, an expedition of this kind directs one's thoughts 
into other channels than those of the ordinary humdrum 
of life. The starlit sky, under which one sleeps with im- 
punity, invites imagination to take flight into the infinite 
universe, and one has time to reflect on the beauty of 
existence and the grandeur of nature, a pleasure which is 
denied to most dwellers in cities. 

During my travels I used an Army Sketching Case, 
designed and patented by Glenn T. Smith, topographer. 
United States Geological Survey, and I collected besides 
a large amount of data of geographical importance. Of 
the region traversed by me a considerable portion appears 
on the hitherto pubKshed maps as blank space. The 
International Boundary Commission, which takes in 
generally from two and a half to three miles on each 
side of the boundary. West of Meridian iii, west of 
Greenwich, and south of Parallel ^^ only one topo- 
graphical sheet, that of Yuma, has been published by 
the United States Geological Survey. 

In making the map herewith presented, as a base for 
starting, the Atlas sheets of the International Boundary 
Commission have been used. In Arizona the word 
"range" has been employed as a synonym for the 
Spanish sierra. This is generally in conformity with 
the usage of the South-west. 



xii PREFACE 

The following maps and authorities were consulted: 

1. Report of the International Boundary Commission, 

1891-1896. 

2. United States Geological Survey. 

3. Gulf of California, original surve}^ by U. S. S. 

Narragansett, 1 873-1 875, the Hydrographic 
Office, United States Navy Department, Wash- 
ington, District of Columbia. 

4. General Land Office Map, Department of the In- 

terior, 1909. 

5. Pima County, by George J. Roskruge, 1893. 
While the accompanying map has been made with 

all possible care and after taking into account all obtain- 
able material, it naturally does not claim absolute accu- 
racy. The task of preparing a map approaching perfec- 
tion would require as many years as I had months at 
my disposal. 

I desire to express to Mr. A. Briesemeister, of the 
American Museum of Natural History, who drew the two 
maps, my appreciation of his painstaking and skilful 
work. Sr. Y. Bonillas, mining engineer and surveyor 
in Nogales, kindly assisted in giving the location of cer- 
tain places, and to his son, Sr. Y. S. Bonillas, of the In- 
stituto Geologico de Mexico, I owe valuable topograph- 
ical information in regard to the Pinacate region. I am 
indebted to Mr. G. Sykes for a tracing of the mouth of the 
Colorado River, 1907, although I disagree with him in his 
estimate of the extent of the Santa Clara Slough. 

The photographs have with few exceptions been taken 
by myself. I had with me three cameras, all of the so- 



PREFACE xiii 

called Kodak type, made by the Eastman Company, 
Rochester, New York. The largest carried ^ x y films; 
the other two were Folding Pocket Kodaks, all provided 
with high-grade lenses. The photograph of the little elf 
owl, reproduced at page i8, was presented to me by Mr. 
Herbert Brown, of Tucson, and that of the row of cur- 
lews, at page 256, by Mr. Warburton Pike, of British 
Columbia. The photograph of Casa Grande, which 
appears on the map of the Papagueria, I owe to the 
courtesy of the Bureau of American Ethnology. The 
photograph of the YaquI chiefs, as well as that of the 
donkeys bringing bat guano, were taken by a Hermosillo 
photographer. The clowns and Pablo I had taken In 
Tucson. 

Mr. Marlus Dahlgren, my able friend of Tucson, 
kindly contributed the painting of sunset in the desert, 
reproduced as frontispiece. Miss Gladys Batchelder 
Greene was good enough to transcribe the two native 
songs. The two colored illustrations are by Mr. R. 
Weber, and the drawings of native Implements were 
made by Mr. W. Baake, after objects collected during 
the expedition. 

The comparative vocabulary, published by the Smith- 
sonian Institution, has been used as a basis for the 
short vocabularies of Appendix I. 

To my good friend, Hon. Franklin MacVeagh, Secre- 
tary of the United States Treasury, I am indebted for the 
official courtesy which he, through the State Department, 
secured on my behalf in Mexico. 

I wish to express my grateful acknowledgment to the 



xlv PREFACE 

Mexican Government for removing all custom duties 
for my expedition and for continuing In other ways the 
pleasant relations of former years. 

For the identification of the several plants referred to 
in the book as well as for valuable information on botanical 
subjects I am under great obligation to Dr. B. L. Robin- 
son, Curator of the Gray Herbarium, Harvard University. 
Dr. J. A. Allen, Mr. Frank M. Chapman, and Mr. W. 
Beutenmiiller, of the American Museum of Natural His- 
tory, New York, have identified certain mammals, birds, 
and insects. Mr. Samuel Henshaw, of the Museum of 
Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, has Identified 
various Insects. In regard to mineraloglcal and geological 
specimens I have consulted with Dr. C. P. Berkey, of 
Columbia University; Mr. L. P. Gratacap and Dr. E. O. 
Hovey, of the American Museum of Natural History, as 
well as with Prof. Cyrus F. Tolman, of Arizona Uni- 
versity, who for ten days accompanied me on the 
expedition near Magdalena, and who has contributed a 
sketch of the geological formation of the Papagueria, 
presented as Appendix HI. Mr. Nathan Banks, Mr. 
Barton A. Bean, Dr. J. N. Rose, and Dr. Leonard 
Stejneger, of the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, 
have further contributed toward the identification of 
certain specimens of natural history. 

Carl Lumholtz 

New York, 19 12 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER I 



PAGE 



Westward Bound — Civilization in the West — Tucson Past and 
Present — Visit to San Xavier Del Bac — The Papago Ind- 
ian Reservation — Ancient Fortifications — Native Ceme- 
teries — Antiquities — Courtship of the Night Hawks . . I 

CHAPTER H 

The Papagueria — Its Natural Features — Sierras and Llanos 
— Small Rainfall — High Temperature — Remarkable Adap- 
tation of Plant Life — Fauna — The Papago, the Great 
People of the Desert — First Encounter with the Whites 
— Present Conditions 1 6 

CHAPTER III 

An Expedition into Southern Arizona — My Companion — 
The Range of Baboquivari — Fresnal — Papago Manner of 
Curing Disease — ^At the Boundary — An Unusual Relig- 
ious Commotion — Visit to a Sacred Cave — Indian Oasis . 30 

CHAPTER IV 

Tne Giant Cactus or Sahuaro — The Sahuaro Feast at Noria 
— Dancing and Singing — The Medicine Lodge — Tobacco 
— Well Received — Dissertations with the Indians — An 
Adventure — An Ancient Festival — Native Oratory — Ob- 
jection to Photography — Artistic Gifts of a Native ... 45 

CHAPTER V 

Comobabi — An Attractive Indian Family — Marianita — A 
Horned Lizard that Spurts Blood through the Eye — An 
Aboriginal Way of Recording Events — ^The Papago Cal- 
endar — Harvesting Sahuaro — How to Keep Comfortable 
in Great Heat — ^A Visit to Chief Alvina ...... 65 

XV 



xx-i CONTEXTS 

CHAPTER VI 



PAGE 



Horseshoe in the Quijotoa Range — Indians as Miners — Spend- 
ing a Night under Difficulties — Delightful Natives — A 
Woman's Game — Santa Rosa Rancheria — The Great 
Harvest Feast of Santa Rosa S2 



CHAPTER VII 

Visit to a Ver>- Sacred Place — The Children's Sacrifice — A 
Meeting with an Important Personage — ^Anekam — Prim- 
itive Natives — I Arrive among the Kohatk People — A 
Wet Night — Return to Santa Rosa 99 



CH-\PTER VIII 

Scorpions — A Storm in the Desert — How the Sahuaro Wine 
Is Made — The Sahuaro Feast at Santa Rosa — ^A Great 
Rendezvous — Social Amusements of the Papago — Success 
at Collecting Specimens — Stuck in the Mud — W onderful 
Change in the Landscape — ^.\ \ aluable \ egetable — Part- 
ing with Pablo Il6 



CRAPTER IX 

In Magdalena, Mexico — The State of Sonora — The Yaqui 
Indians — ^An Attack of Dysentery- — Trincheras, the Re- 
markable .\ncient Fortiiicarions — ^Antiquities of the Pa- 
pagueria — .Alrar — Caborca — I Scart \\ est^ard — Placer 
Mines — The Choya — Its Terrible Spines — Irs Great L til- 
it^- — Catde X^Tiich Are without Water for Months . • 1 34 



CIL\PTER X 

Adventure with a Coyote — Unusual .\fterglow — A Meteor — 
A Great and Fertile Valley — The Custom of Xidri — La 
Nariz — ^The Papagoes of Quitovac . , , , . . . . 1 56 



CONTENTS xvii 

CHAPTER XI 

Sonoita, an Oasis of the Desert — Its Pleasant Population — 
Lessons of the Sonoita River — .Antiquities — A Lunar 
Rainbo'vv — Primitive Gold Mining — Prevalence of Hydro- 
phobia — Unusual Refraction of Sunlight 1 74 

CHAPTER XII 

Areas of Vegetation — Fitting Out an Expedition under Di5.- 
culties — An Old Medicine-Man Enrolled as a Member — 
Guadalupe Io7 

CHAPTER XIII 

The Old Caborca-Yuma Trail — Quitovaquita. the Place of 
Small Springs — Old Camping Places — Pinacate and Le- 
gends Connected vrirh It — Discover;,- of Vv ater — Our 
First Mountain-Sheep — \ isit to a Sacred Cave — Ascent 
of the Peak — Winter Weather — Crater Elegante — Travel 
at Night 196 

CHAPTER XIV 

Changing Camp — Mountain-Sheep — The Lseful Grr-;e~::i 
— Palo Fierro, the Friendly Desert Tree — L:: ^>ll:i :.■■.::. 
the Great Sand Dunes — Unusual Tracks — Abandoned Ind- 
ian Camps — New Sierras — La Tinaja de Los Papagos — 
Visit to a Crater 217 

CHAPTER X\' 

Westward — Looking Back toward Pinacate — Tinajas Altas — 
Its Dismal Memories — Sunshine and Moonlight of the 
Early Morning — El Capitan — Laguna Prieta,, a ii!: Like 
— ^A Long Wait for V. ater — How Fresh "V\ ater Apreirs 
among Bulrushes — Approaching the Colorado River — 
Colonia Lerdo — The Indians at the Lower Part of the 
Great River Z}^^ 



xviil CONTENTS 

CHAPTER XVI 

PAGE 

Travelling along the Gulf of California — Delightful Climate — 
Killing a Porpoise — Fishing — Fresh Water on the Beach 
— Unattractive Drinking Water — Fine Views — A Great 
Salt Deposit — Extraordinar}^ Occurrence of Springs — 
Hard Travel — The Papago Salt Expeditions — Worship of 
the Sea 254 

CHAPTER XVn 

A Peaceful Day — Tragedy in the Wilderness — Our Animals 
Beginning to Give In — A Promising Soda Deposit — ^Last 
Camp on the Beach — Among the Sand Dunes — Sierra 
Blanca — The Mouth of the Sonoita River — El Charco — 
Pronghorn Antelopes — Meeting with Indians — Return to 
Sonoita 274 

CHAPTER XVIII 

New Expedition Westward — Growler Well — A Hardy Old Pa- 
pago — Disagreeable Experience with a Mexican of My 
Party — A Valuable New Member — Papago Loyalty — 
Pronghorn Antelope Again — Mountain-Sheep Inside of a 
Crater — I Leave My Main Camp — My Two Companions 
— Risks Taken by the Prospector — Deceptive Atmosphere 
— Our Guiding Star — Reading Tracks — Solitude — Beauty 
of the Desert 289 

CHAPTER XIX 

I Overtake My Men — Again at Tinajas Altas — Progress under 
Difficulties — Exploring in Los Medanos — Astonishing Dis- 
play of Flowers — Picturesque Camp on the Dunes — I 
Lose My Riding Mule — Sierra Del Rosario — Travel at 
Night— The Wonderful" Root of the Sands" 308 

CHAPTER XX 

Return to Tinajas Altas — Evasive Travellers — An "Oldtimer" 
— The Cabeza Prieta Mountains — Vague Notions of Prop- 
erty — The Pools of Cabeza Prieta — A Rainy Day — I 
Reach My Main Camp — The Advantage of Travel with 
Donkeys — My Indian Companions — The Sand People . 320 



CONTENTS xix 

CHAPTER XXI 

PAGE 

An Indian Hermit — Aboriginal Cooking — Again in Sonoita — 
Ancient Village Sites Around the Altar River — A Remedy 
for Snake Bites— I Arrive at Ajo, Arizona— Gila Bend 
Reservation — An Ancient Fortress — The Maricopa Ind- 
ians — The Ways of Civilization — The Pima Indians — 
Casa Grande — Its Builders — Return to Civilization . . 333 

CHAPTER XXII 

Physical and Mental Characteristics of the Pap ago— Effects of 
Contact with White Man — Marital Relations— Woman's 
High Position — Industries — Divisions of the Tribe — 
Religion and Myths — Races and Games — Fights with 
Apaches — Sham Battles — Present Conditions and Pros- 
pects of the Papago 'jaa 

APPENDICES 

I — Short Vocabularies from the Languages of the Papago, 

Pima, and Cocopa Indians 368 

II — Rancherias, Present and Past, of the Papago, with Inter- 
pretations of Their Native Name 277 

III — Geological Sketch of the Papagueria 308 

INDEX 401 



ILLUSTRATIONS 

At Sunset: Santa Catalina Mountains, near Tucson. 

(Colored plate) Frontispiece 

FACING PAGE 

In a Tucson garden 4 

Where peace reigns supreme. San Xavier 4 

Mission church of San Xavier del Bac 12 

A kiln at San Xavier 12 

Threshing wheat. San Xavier 12 

Sierra de la Basura, Sonora. Seen from the south-west . . . 18 '- 

An exceptional mountain range of the Papagueria 18 "^ 

A characteristic mountain range of the Papagueria . . . . 18 

Mocking-bird {Mivtus) 22 

Elf-owl (Micropallas) 22 

Cotton-tail rabbit 22 

Young gray fox, at burrow 22 

Rattlesnake 22 

Peak of Baboquivari, seen from north-west 32 -^ 

Peak of Baboquivari 42 

Ocotillo {Fouquieria splendens) 42 

Entrance to the Sacred Cave, at foot of peak of Baboquivari 42 

Barrel cactus 42 

Sahuaro, or giant cactus {Cereus gigaiiteus) 48 

Single-column sahuaro 48 

Sahuaro, dry, showing its wooden structure 48 

Papago ethnology 56 

Picture drawn by an untutored Papago 62 

Using the ancient hoe 62 

Mother with child in cradle. Aktjin 62 

xxi 



xxH ILLUSTRATIONS 

FACING PAGE 

Palo verde, near a Papago cemetery 72 

The medicine-lodge at Santa Rosa 72 

Showing how to swing the bull-roarer 88 

Woman's game of double-ball 88 

Papago woman, with her children, from Bisani, near Caborca 88 

The clown at the great feast of Santa Rosa 92 '' 

My camp at Santa Rosa 92 ' 

Papago ethnology 96 

Shrine of the children's sacrifice, seen from the west .... 104 

Shrine of the children's sacrifice, near Santa Rosa 104 

East of the shrine of the children's sacrifice 104 

Papago ethnology no 

Desert willow in bloom, June 120 

Papago woman carrying water 120 

The dam at Santa Rosa. Made by the Papagoes 120 

Pablo, my interpreter. A full-blooded Papago 132 

The old way of hauling freight in Mexico, now disappearing . 136 

Bringing bat guano to Corral railroad station in the Yaqui 

country 136 

Yaqui chiefs who in 1909 made peace with the Mexican Gov- 
ernment 136 

Ancient fortifications near Trincheras, District of Altar, Sonora 140 

The same side of the mountains, viewed at five miles distance 

from the north 140 

Antiquities of the Papagueria 142 ^ 

Antiquities of the Papagueria 144 ^^ 

The church in old Caborca 146 

Altar, seen from the west 146 

A ranch, west of Altar, showing the indispensable water barrels 146 

Cow eating choya 152 

Cow showing vestiges of her favorite feeding grounds . . . . 152 



ILLUSTRATIONS xxiii 

FACING PAGE 

Choya {Opuntia mamillata), relished as food by the cattle . . 152 

Feeding on mezquite leaves 162 

Papago women bringing in wood, La Nariz 162 

Pictographs near La Nariz 168 

Pictographs near Caborca 168 

The nose of the rock which gave La Nariz its name .... 168 

Ancient pottery vessels of the Papagueria. Excavated by Pa- 
pago Indians near Fresnal, Arizona. {Colored plate) . . 170 

Papago woman, La Nariz 174 

The principal spring at Quitovac 174 

Agua Dulce, a reappearance of Sonoita River 180 

The channel at the beginning of Sonoita River 180 

Salt loads, recently discharged. Papago pack-saddles in the 

centre 184 

Papago woman "dry washing" gold near Quitovac . . . . 184 

Approaching storm. View from Pinacate top, looking south, at 

sunset, January 3 200 

Pinacate from the east. Commencement of the lava flow. To 

the right, my camp 200 

Belt of great sand-hills south of Pinacate 200 

Guadalupe at the sacred cave of Pinacate 208 

The lonely palo fierro 222 

Greasewood bushes 222 

Hauling palo fierro branches for camp fire at dusk 222 

Mountain sheep, female 228 

Tracks of beetles (Eleodes) on sand dune 228 

Crater elegante 232 

The watercourse at Tinaja de Los Papagos 232 

Paso de Juana 236 

Tinajas Altas 240 

Clemente: Papago 240 



xxlv ILLUSTRATIONS 

FACING PAGE 

Filling our barrels and canteens at Tinaja del Tula .... 240 

Laguna Prieta, from the east 244 

In the sand dunes before arriving at Laguna Prieta .... 244 

Indians burning reeds and grass on the Colorado River . . . 248 

Approaching Laguna Prieta 248 

A stranded porpoise 256 

Row of curlews on the beach 256 

The delta of the Colorado River showing clumps of bulrushes 

{Tulares) 256 

Clayey sand cliffs of the gulf 256 

A pozo at Salina Grande, seen from the east 262 

The same pozo, seen from the west 262 

Salina Grande in its northern part, showing many of the pozos 

or tulares 262 

A pozo at the edge of Salina Grande 264 

A pozo at Salina Grande 264 

Beautiful effects of wind and sand, north-west of Pozo del 

Caballo 272 

The Pinacate salt deposit . 272 

Leaving La Soda . 286 

Sierra Blanca, southern part, seen from the south 286 

Waiting for his chance. At Los Pozitos 286 

QEnothera trichocalyx, near Sierra del Rosario 312 

(Enothera trichocalyx, near Sierra del Rosario. A fine growth 312 

CEnothera trichocalyx, south of Sierra Blanca 312 

Clodomiro digging for "roots of the sands" (Cflmo/^j-) . . . 318 

The "roots of the sands" (^mmo^roma j-onori^) 318 

My companions, "Doctor" Pancho (to the left) and Pedro . 318 

Sierra del Rosario, northern part 324 



ILLUSTRATIONS 



XXV 



FACING PAGE 

Cabeza Prieta Range. An interior, looking westward. A dry 

arroyo at the bottom ^24 

Papago: Guadalupe, my companion from Quitovac .... 344 

Papago: Miguel, medicine-man from La Nariz 344 

Girl. Parents: Chinaman and Yaqui 344 

Boy. Parents: Spaniard and Papago 344 

Pima granary. Made from twisted arrow bush 350 

Hut for the isolation of women 3 cq 

Papago: "Rainbow," from La Nariz 350 

Designs of Papago baskets 3^^ 

Casa Grande, Arizona, before the protecting shed was erected 

Printed with map showing Papago Rancherias 



MAPS 

Map showing Papago Rancherias, Present and Past 

Map of South-western Arizona and North-western i I'^ pocket at 



Sonora, comprising the region formerly called 
Papagueria 



end of volume 



NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 



NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

CHAPTER I 

WESTWARD BOUND— CIVILIZATION IN THE WEST— TUCSON PAST 
AND PRESENT— VISIT TO SAN XAVIER DEL BAC— THE PAPAGO 
INDIAN RESERVATION— ANCIENT FORTIFICATIONS— NATIVE 
CEMETERIES — ANTIQUITIES — COURTSHIP OF THE NIGHT- 
HAWKS 

In May, 1909, I found myself on a train westward 
bound for the never-never country. Many a time have I 
crossed the North American continent and, coming from 
the East, have noticed the change of natural conditions 
that takes place west of Chicago. One begins to feel the 
freedom of the West, the air is very bracing, and the great 
plains inspire to deeds of energy. The few people in the 
Pullman car look intent, as if they had some purpose in 
life. Tourists seldom travel on these trains, but very 
often consumptives are seen on their way to the land of 
hope, the arid regions of the South-west around El Paso, 
Tucson, and other places. 

"Pardon me for calling you mister. Judge,'' said one 
of my fellow-passengers during our conversation. He was 
not a good judge himself, I am afraid. Another one to 
show his good-will gave me the title of colonel, as also did 
the negro porters. 



2 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

"Why do you want to discover any more animals? 
We have enough already," said to me a wise, elderly man 
from California, connecting in some way my proposed 
expedition with the discovery of animals. 

We pulled out from El Paso and, in a newspaper I 
had just bought, I read these rather startling lines: 

COWBOYS AND SHEEPMEN FIGHT 



Fierce Battle at Atchee, Colo. 



SHEEPMEN ARE TIED UP AND COWBOYS THEN SLAUGHTER 3,000 HEAD 

OF SHEEP 

Grand Junction, Colo., May 20. — -As a result of a battle between 
the sheepmen and cowboys on a contested ranch near Atchee, Colo., 
yesterday, 3,000 head of sheep were killed and two sheepmen injured, 
but not seriously. According to the reports received here the cowboys 
dashed in upon the herders and tied them to trees and then rode among 
the sheep, killing them. The slaughter required almost a day. In 
order to prevent the news from leaking out, it is said, the cowboys first 
cut the telephone wires and then made their escape into the hills. 
Several hours later the sheep-herders were discovered and liberated. 

A mining man from the West, another of my fellow- 
passengers, cultivated and intelligent, gave me light on 
these high-handed proceedings by explaining the feuds 
between cattlemen and sheepmen as due to the fact that 
cattle will not graze on ground where sheep have fed. 
According to my informant, the sheepmen are Mexicans. 
The cattleowners often hire renegades to do their bloody 
work. In a battle the previous year, seven men had been 
killed. The aggressors are masked and escape. 

This incident reminded me of a request for the for- 
bearance of the audience put up on a signboard in a far 



FRONTIER LIFE 3 

Western town, "Don't shoot us, we are doing our best," 
and the advertisement of the barber in a mining camp, 
"Ears washed without extra charge." Such are the act- 
ualities of frontier Hfe, but we should not be led to wrong 
conclusions about that great Western land in the process 
of making and its virile, hearty population. The other 
side to the picture is a much more important one, and it 
often remains obscure to those who do not know the 
actual conditions. 

Arizona, which concerns us here, has good laws and 
enforces them. Its public-school system is equal to the 
best of the commonwealths in the eastern part of North 
America. This State, which includes not only great 
mines, cattle, sheep, and angora goat ranches, ostrich 
farms, etc., but a steadily growing agriculture, was con- 
sidered a useless waste of desert less than fifty years ago. 

As for Tucson, where I made my first head-quarters, 
one is surprised at the business-like, orderly aspect of 
everything. In Spanish times the presidio, or fort, of 
Tucson, estabhshed in 1776 on its removal from Tubac, 
resisted many a siege from hostile natives, numbering at 
times over a thousand. A traveller in 1863 describes it 
as "the head-quarters of vice, dissipation, and crime. 
There was neither government, law, nor military pro- 
tection. The garrison at Tucson confined itself to its 
legitimate business of getting drunk or doing nothing." 
To-day on the same site one finds a cosmopolitan, well- 
laid-out, and clean city of twenty-four thousand inhabi- 
tants. In 1880 the Southern Pacific Railroad arrived 
here, bringing it in more direct touch with the rest of the 



4 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

world. The people met on the streets or in the stores 
are invariably civil and they are much more so than under 
the same conditions in New York, besides being more 
wide-awake. The citizens are public-spirited, prosper- 
ous, and progressive, and, best of all, they respect and 
favor learning, as evidenced by the welcome extended to 
the Desert Botanical Laboratory of the Carnegie Institu- 
tion, for the study of desert plants, which was given land 
in the vicinity. Tucson is the seat of the University of 
Arizona which, from the modest beginning in the year 
1 89 1 of a single building among the greasewood of the 
mesa, has advanced to an institution of much importance. 
It has a school of mines and an agricultural experiment 
station. 

The university buildings are charmingly situated in a 
park of forty acres, where clusters of the native palo 
verde attracted my attention, displaying in an exuberant 
manner their yellow spring blossoms, which appear be- 
fore the leaves. Plants peculiar to the desert region 
have been planted in the garden, among them a maguey 
{agave americana), the renowned mescal of Mexico, a 
member of the amaryllis family to which the common 
garden narcissus belongs. Members of this family the 
so-called century plants, have large and beautiful spikes 
of creamy white flowers which are the supreme effort of 
their lives and after the production of which they die, 
though able to propagate themselves by shoots. The 
one in question was seventeen years old when it pro- 
duced stalk and flowers. The stalk, more than twenty 
feet high, grew, according to Prof. J. J. Thornber, in 




In a Tucson garden- 




Where PEACE REIGNS SUPREilE. SaN XaVIER 



TUCSON 5 

six weeks, the maximum growth in one day having been 
eleven inches. For comparison, it may be mentioned 
that the Virginia creeper, one of the most rapid-growing 
plants, has been known to make four inches a day, but 
it needs deep and rich soil and much water. 

Tucson is situated on the Santa Cruz River, a small 
stream, but important because of its permanency. A 
fertile valley with alluvial soil surrounds its course, which 
offered the most direct route for the early Spanish ex- 
plorers. It disappears in the sand before reaching the 
Gila River. Tucson is 2,430 feet above sea-level. The 
name is a corruption of the Papago Tjukson, meaning 
"at the foot of (son) the black hill (tjuk)." The word 
tjuk^ designates the color black, which also by inference 
means black hill. Originally Tjukson was a Papago 
rancheria on the river, at the foot of a small hill near that 
on which the Desert Laboratory is now situated. The 
climate is hot in summer, the records of 1909 showing 
that there were only three days in the year when the sun 
did not shine; still it is a very healthy region, and con- 
sumptives prolong life and are even cured by living here. 
On January 27, 1888, Tucson, according to reports, had 
four or five inches of snow on the ground. 

About nine miles south of Tucson, on the fertile 
plains along the Santa Cruz River, is the old church of 
the Mission of San Xavier del Bac. There has been 
much speculation in regard to the meaning of the word 
Bac. It is the Spanish rendering of Vak, the Papago 
name of the locality, and means: "where the river reap- 

* There should be a slight 5 sound before t. 



6 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

pears In the sand, a 'sink'." This fine Jesuit edifice does 
not, according to Mr. Ad. F. Bandeher, date further back 
than the middle of the eighteenth century, though an 
attempt at building a church at San Xavier appears to 
have been made In 1699. It was once a rich mission; 
the architecture Is the usual type of Spanish renaissance, 
but better preserved than Is the case with other missions 
of the South-west. 

The church is at present surrounded by a reservation 
of the Papago Indians. The ethnologist will find these 
Indians more worthy of a visit than he would anticipate, 
because, owing to the half nomadic habits of the tribe, 
natives of the Interior districts are constantly to be found 
there. From the tower of the old church I had a fine 
view of the extensive wheat-fields which the Indians at 
that time — the beginning of June — were harvesting, and 
which presented a marked contrast to the barren appear- 
ance of some settlements of poverty-stricken Mexican and 
YaquI families that live on low hills beyond the river, just 
outside of the reservation. Horses were gorging them- 
selves In the green fields of barley. Some of the Indians 
have mowing machines that cost fifty dollars each. I was 
told that the United States Government supplied agri- 
cultural Implements. The ambition of these natives still 
reaches out for a hay-press, which would cost In Tucson 
nearly four hundred dollars, and a "bog-rake." "That's 
all we ask for," the Papago policeman said to me. He 
had a buggy with two horses, which he lent me. They 
were lazy and did not take any of the unexpected lib- 
erties usual with horses raised by Indians. Sewing 



IN TOUCH WITH NATURE 7 

machines and many of the white man's kitchen utensils 
are seen in the houses; nevertheless, the people seem 
very Indian. When spoken to in English they would not 
answer me, but they would in Spanish, the women always 
smiling when addressed in that tongue. 

Some years had passed since I had been among Ind- 
ians and I again enjoyed their gentle and sympathetic 
manner. When I reached there, one woman was toast- 
ing green garhanzos; she was stirring the large peas in 
the shallow earthen-wear dish in which corn cakes are 
baked, and she hospitably offered me a few, presenting 
them in a beautiful tray with interwoven symbolic fig- 
ures. Another woman offered me wheat grains which 
she was toasting on a potsherd. They were simple 
dishes, these, but how good they tasted because they 
were well cooked! None of the many civilized man's 
machine-made productions of a similar kind bear com- 
parison with the plain cuisine of the nimble housewife 
of the red man. Although dogs here were somewhat 
numerous, they did not molest. Indian dogs are seldom 
fierce, but these did not even bark when we approached 
the houses; they would look at us unconcernedly and 
lay their heads down again. 

The dwellings here, rectangular in shape, are usu- 
ally adobe huts or light sheds made of sunflower stalks 
placed upright, three or four sahuaro ribs, which are 
tied horizontally, binding these together. The walls are 
usually plastered both inside and out with mud mixed 
with straw; the uprights are forked poles of mezquite 
and the same kind of pole always stands in the middle 



8 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

of the house to support the roof. The rafters, too, are 
of mezquite, the roof consisting besides of a layer of 
coarse grass called sacaton and another of wheat straw, 
on top of which is placed mud. The roof Is slightly- 
raised in the middle in order that the rain may more 
easily run off; the floor Is earthen. Huts made of up- 
right ocotillo sticks, but otherwise similar, are also seen. 
A window is rarely found In the houses. Generally 
there Is attached to the house a shed called in Spanish 
jacal, a light roof resting on four or six forked upright 
poles, which furnishes a grateful shade. Here the cook- 
ing Is done, and here the family Is usually found sitting. 
The dwellings In the rest of the Papagueria are of a sim- 
ilar type, real adobe houses being seldom met with. The 
dome-shaped grass huts of the natives are also not un- 
common In the Interior districts of southern Arizona. 

Pottery making Is the greatest Industry among these 
Indians, and wherever I went In the mornings I could 
hear the soft hammering of the wooden paddle against 
the clay that had been moulded into shape. A round 
smooth stone is held by the other hand against the Inner 
wall of the vessel. All the pottery makers are women, 
and their faces betray much quiet Intelligence. The 
pottery ware of the Papago, though of fairly good 
quality, cannot be compared with that of the Pueblo 
Indians, especially in regard to designs. It Is useful, 
though, and finds a ready sale In Tucson. 

The Indians who live here number about seven hun- 
dred, and they seem contented and happy. One cir- 
cumstance which contributes to their happiness and 



THE BLACK HILLS 9 

gives great cause for satisfaction to those interested in 
the welfare of the red man, is the prohibition against 
selHng brandy to the Indians. Through the constant 
vigilance of specially detailed men the law is enforced, 
at least on the reservation. I was informed that forty- 
five convictions for the sale of liquor to the Indians had 
been secured in the Federal Court at Tucson which had 
just then closed its session. The penalty is usually two 
years in the penitentiary, together with a fine, and still 
there are always people willing and anxious to sell to 
the Indians an abominable, poisonous liquor called 
*' port-wine" at twenty-five cents a quart bottle. 

Near San Xavier are five hills, running more or less 
in the general direction of east and west, of volcanic for- 
mation, and dark in color. They are each and all called 
by the Papago tjuk (black). A further characteriza- 
tion is given as to which mountain is meant, by "the 
black hill where the cemetery is," *'the black hill on the 
other side of the river," and so on. I ascended one of 
these hills, situated three miles west of the mission church, 
which, like a great many others of the South-west, is sur- 
mounted by fortifications of ancient people. These con- 
sist mainly of two rows of stone walls which at short 
intervals run for about two hundred yards irregularly 
along the northern side of the summit. The trail from 
below cuts through them. The walls, four feet high and 
ten or fifteen feet wide at the base, consist of loose stones 
thrown together without any attempt at system. 

On the top small enclosures, or corrals, of upright, 
medium-sized stones were noted ; here the ancients lived 



lo NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

perhaps during sieges, each family in its enclosure. I 
found later that those Papagoes who lived recently in the 
sand dune country of Sonora had similar, though cruder, 
arrangements at their camps. In the winter, when much 
grass is growing on the top of the mountain, the Indians 
keep their horses there on pasture. The rest of the vege- 
tation of the hill consists mainly of a bush with almost 
white leaves, encelia farinosa, appropriately named the 
white brittle bush by Dr. William T. Hornaday. The 
leaves have the characteristics indicated by the name 
and, with their stems, have a very strong aromatic odor. 
The branches exude a yellow gum which the Papago 
children use as chewing gum, for they indulged in this 
unattractive habit long before certain classes of Ameri- 
cans included it among the pleasures of life. The men 
also applied it as a varnish over the painted part of an 
arrow, warming it first. The rounded and symmetrical 
shape of this bush is In evidence everywhere In the desert 
region. The Mexicans call it herba del vaso, because the 
gum is supposed to cure pain In the vaso (the left side 
below the ribs). It is warmed and smeared on, and is 
considered more efficacious than a porous plaster. 

These bushes grow In desert fashion with such regu- 
larity of Intervals that they appear as if planted, and 
they covered In a pleasing way the dark sides of the moun- 
tain, especially toward the south, where also appeared, 
here and there, the lofty columns of the giant cactus or 
sahuaro {cereus giganteus). That wonderful creation of 
the desert, however, does not often Inhabit mountains, 
for the reason that most of their soil has been washed 



BURIAL CUSTOMS ii 

away, but on lesser, mostly volcanic hills like this one, 
it is seen, though on the south side alone. Dr. D. T. 
MacDougal informs me that farther south and east in 
the Sonora Desert, down toward Hermosillo, before reach- 
ing the plant's extreme limit of habitat, it prefers to grow 
on the north side. 

The hill notable for its cemetery is much smaller and 
quite low, and rises back of the Indian houses. The 
Papagoes wrap their dead in a new suit of cotton cloth, 
and place the corpse on the ground, building up a small 
artless stone chamber four feet high over it. In other 
parts of the Papago country the natives make a hole in 
the ground of sufficient depth to hold the dead in a sit- 
ting position, erecting over it the usual protection. The 
roof of the chamber consists of mezquite or palo verde 
poles, taken from the deceased man's own house which, 
so to speak, follows him to the grave. On top some 
stones are heaped. Many such chambers are in time 
joined together and form singular looking structures, 
ugly and irregular in shape, being at the widest part 
from twenty to thirty feet across. After the lapse of 
some time the roof may fall in, allowing a peep down at 
the desiccated human remains, near which may have 
been placed objects such as arrow stretchers, plumes, 
ornaments, and trinkets. I often later saw pottery ves- 
sels that had contained food or drink standing near the 
newly erected chambers. Where there are trees near by, 
bundles of clothing for the use of the departed in the 
next life may be seen among the branches. Four thin, 
upright sticks of ocotillo, which had been placed in a 



12 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

small quadrangle, protruded about one and a half feet 
from the middle of the roof of some of the chambers 
near San Xavier. 

Such agglomerations of mortuary chambers were lo- 
cated on all sides of the small hill, except toward the east, 
some low down, some high up. I counted thirty-one. 
Most of the Indians that die in the neighborhood are no 
doubt still adding to the number and size of these com- 
posite burials of the Black Hill Cemetery, though a few 
make use of the Cemetery of the Baptized, as the Cath- 
olic cemetery is called. On the llano, at the foot of the 
fortification hill described above, is another large heap 
of mortuary chambers, which the Indians call the Level 
Ground Cemetery. The dead are never mentioned. 
The sons, and not the daughters, inherit from the de- 
ceased. 

Just north of the Indian village, on the east side of 
the river, are several insignificant looking earth mounds, 
where pieces of antiquity consisting of stone implements, 
pottery vessels, etc., are constantly being found in small 
numbers. Such ancient village sites are common along 
the river and adjoining arroyos, and in turning up the soil 
of the river plain the Indians encounter stone axes, etc. 

It may be of interest to note that in excavating a 
dam, fifty miles west of Tucson, a number of ancient 
earthen-ware and stone implements were found and, with 
them, curiously enough, two solid balls of rubber, one 
weighing eight ounces. These no doubt were made 
from the now famous rubber substitute of northern 
Mexico, which is produced from a plant called guayule. 




Mission church of San Xavier del Bag 




A KILN AT San Xam 











i' "^ 



.•IR. 



Threshing wheat. Sax Xwier 



NIGHTHAWKS IN SPRING TIME 13 

By chewing the leaves and stalks the Indians were able 
to bring out the rubber. Small quantities of this plant 
are growing near Tucson. 

At San Xavler, nighthawks, also called goatsuckers, 
flew about In great numbers every evening at the sunset 
hour, often settling on the ground among the greasewood 
bushes. As Is well known, their call when flying much 
resembles that of the bleating of a goat, but seated on the 
ground they would emit an entirely different and pleas- 
anter sound, like that produced by water when being 
poured out of a bottle, only very much louder. This 
species was the Texas nighthawk {chordeiles acutipennis 
texensis). 

It was the month of June, their mating time, and 
they were calling out so eagerly that slight notice was 
taken of my trying to photograph them with my kodak. 
On horseback they were easily approached within fifteen 
feet, but it was at first extremely difficult to discover 
their presence on the ground, so much does the bird 
resemble Its surroundings. Only by paying attention to 
the exact spot where they had settled could I discover 
their whereabouts; after a little while the snow-white 
band under their throats would help to betray their 
presence. 

I was observing through my field-glass how one of 
them, singing with much perseverance, swelled out Its 
throat each time the note was emitted, its tail and wings 
trembling simultaneously, when suddenly another night- 
hawk appeared behind me, darting swiftly past me to- 
ward the object of my observation, and emitting at the 



14 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

same time some peculiarly sweet notes. They must have 
sounded like soft whispers of love, for they were imme- 
diately answered by similar notes, but briefer and of 
a more decisive character, and the bird on the ground 
was carried into the highest ecstasy. For a second or 
two the whole bird trembled, spreading out its beautiful 
tail like a fan and calling out; then it took to its wings 
and the two flew away in the happy, easy zigzags in 
which these birds seem to revel. 

They settled on the side of a small hill near by. What 
became of the aggressive female I could not ascertain, 
but the male continued to sound its gurgling notes, and 
I approached him repeatedly on my horse as he sat on 
the shady side of the hill while the sun was setting. The 
enlargement of the pure white band across the throat 
made it quite easy to discover him even at a distance of 
forty or fifty feet, though unfortunately the poor light 
precluded the possibility of a photograph. I experi- 
enced the same thrilling joy in following the birds with 
my camera as I formerly did when I killed them. 

Part of the reservation consists of a large and very 
fine forest of mezquite trees, some of which have grown 
to considerable size. The Indians help to supply Tuc- 
son with wood from these trees. In making a trip 
through the quiet woods, I heard everywhere the call of 
Gambel's quail {lophortyx gambeli), the most common 
game bird in Arizona; also jack-rabbits and coyotes 
were seen. The mezquites were at their best in their 
light green, fresh-looking foliage, and on Sundays these 
woods, which in less arid regions would not be valued 



LACK OF CONSIDERATIOr. 15 

very highly, are used as picnic grounds by the hard- 
working people of Tucson. Lovers of nature find com- 
fort among the trees although they give little shade, but 
they are the only woods within a reasonable distance of 
town. 

Formerly some magnificent cotton trees, near the 
Indian agency of the reservation, used to be the objec- 
tive point of picnic excursions. There were no less than 
twenty of these old trees that gave splendid shade dur- 
ing the fierce heat of the summer. The crowds, as is 
their careless habit in America, used to leave newspapers, 
baskets, and peanuts strewn about the ground, and they 
would throw empty cans into the alfalfa fields beyond 
the fence. The owner, much annoyed, posted warnings 
and prohibitions which were apparently taken lightly; 
for, finally, to prevent this nuisance, he resorted to the 
incredibly drastic measure of cutting down those superb 
trees and making firewood of them. 



CHAPTER II 

THE PAPAGUERIA— ITS NATURAL FEATURES— SIERRAS AND LLANOS 
—SMALL RAINFALL— HIGH TEMPERATURE— REMARKABLE AD- 
APTATION OF PLANT LIFE— FAUNA— THE PAPAGO, THE GREAT 
PEOPLE OF THE DESERT— FIRST ENCOUNTER WITH THE 
WHITES— PRESENT CONDITIONS 

Jhe Papago Indians of to-day, the principal natives 
of the desert, Hve in Arizona to the west and south-west 
of Tucson, as far as the Growler Mountains in the west, 
the Gila River in the north, and the range of Baboqui- 
vari in the east. ; In the neighboring state of Sonora, 
Mexico, a number of them are scattered, roughly speak- 
ing, from the Altar River, in the east, as far as Quitovac 
and Sonoita in the west, most of them at present living 
near the boundary line. Until recent times they were 
found as far as the Colorado River. They occupy much 
the same land as they did when first discovered in the 
seventeenth century by the Spaniards. The region was 
early named Papagueria, or, in its greater extension, 
Pimeria Alta. It is part of the great arid region called 
the Sonora Desert.' 

The main part of the Papagueria slopes down from 
an elevation of three thousand feet or more, in south- 
eastern Arizona, slowly, and to the casual observer im- 
perceptibly, for some two hundred miles toward the Gulf 
of California; its northern part gradually descends toward 
the Gila River. A striking feature in its topography is 

i6 



DESERT RIVERS 17 

a number of minor mountain ranges or sierras, varying 
from seven to thirty miles in length, and running more 
or less in the same general direction of south-east to 
north-west. Their usual elevation above the sea may be 
placed at three or four thousand feet, although some in 
the north rise as high as nine thousand, and some in the 
south are as low as a thousand feet. The mountains 
have undergone a tremendous erosion and at a distance 
give the erroneous impression of being entirely devoid of 
plant life. Often the zigzag profile of their crests re- 
sembles a flash of lightning. There is a good deal of 
mineral wealth in the region, the western Papagueria 
being part of a great auriferous belt that stretches south- 
ward from California and Nevada. Oddly enough, the 
veins of ore very often follow the same general direction 
as the sierras, south-east to north-west. The geological 
formation is granite and recent volcanic. 

The intervening valleys, or ahras, as the Mexicans 
call them, are rather flat, and are formed by the detritus, 
which is naturally higher and coarser along the moun- 
tain sides than in the more central part, where tillable, 
often extremely fertile, soil is found. Few of the so-called 
rivers retain water for more than a few hours after a 
downpour of rain, and the few that show permanent 
water in certain limited localities, as, for instance, the 
Santa Cruz River in Arizona, lose themselves in the 
desert, or, as the Altar and Sonoita Rivers in Sonora, 
reach the sea only after a heavy rain. 

The prevalence of dry arroyos with gravelly or sandy 
beds is very marked in these valleys, large or small; they 



i8 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

are probably evidences of a heavier rainfall than these 
regions now have. They either join the larger rivers or 
disappear in sand dunes or playas. Most of the water 
runs into the Altar and Sonoita Rivers in the south, and 
some to the Gila River in the north. As so few rivers 
have a permanent water supply, water has often to be 
sought elsewhere. In the mountains it is found where 
natural conditions favor the gathering of rains into kettle 
holes or sockets, forming what the Mexicans call tinajas 
(natural tanks). They are nowhere common and some 
sierras do not contain any. In the south-western part of 
the Papagueria, toward the Colorado and Gila Rivers, 
such tinajas are the only water to be found. Some last 
only a few months before evaporating; others, having a 
capacity of a few thousand gallons, may last a year or 
two. In the flat "valleys" between ranges, or, to use an 
equally common expression, on the llanos, enterprising 
Americans have in a few places sunk wells in connection 
with mining or in futile attempts at cattle raising. 

At Tucson the annual rainfall of the region ap- 
proaches twelve inches a year, and at Fort Yuma, on the 
Colorado River, it is not quite three inches. The heat 
is great during four months of the summer, a maximum 
temperature as high as 125° F. having been recorded at 
Yuma. In June the surface of the soil during the day 
was so heated that I could not stand on it comforta- 
bly unless I wore thick-soled shoes. Professor Toumey 
found that the highest temperature of the soil at the 
depth of one inch near Tucson reached 113° F. Its 
average temperature for the month of July was 104.9° F. 





Sierra de la Basura, Soxora. Seen from the south-west 

In the foreground are choyas (Opuntiafulgida) 




An exceptional mountain range of the Papagueeja 




A CHARACTERISTIC MOUNTAIN RANGE OF THE PaPAGUERIA 



HOW PLANTS OBTAIN MOISTURE 19 

In winter, as might be expected, the nights are cold, 
the temperature frequently falling below the freezing- 
point, but It Is a healthy climate and In the Sonora part 
of the Papagueria, Mexicans have been known to live to 
the age of a hundred years or more. 

The plant life of such a country must present much 
of interest yet to be discovered. Science explains that 
plants derive their water largely from a very thin layer 
of moisture which, by capillary attraction, surrounds and 
closely adheres to every particle of earth and sand In 
which the plant Is growing. Even after the sand has 
become perfectly dry to the touch this element of moist- 
ure is present, though In a very slight degree. Where 
the soil is compact this moisture, through capillary at- 
traction, tends to rise to the surface, there to evaporate 
from the joint action of sun and wind. If, however, the 
soil at the surface be loosened, the moisture does not 
rise so high nor so readily. In that way the loose soil 
acts as a blanket, protecting the deeper soil from evapo- 
rating. Methods have of late years been adapted which 
serve to pulverize the surface, intensifying the action of 
nature, and putting ''dry farming" on a more rational 
basis. The people of California and Kansas know about 
this, and practice pulverizing. 

Contrary to the popular conception of deserts, the 
one in question has a vegetation, wonderfully adapted to 
Its environment. During the year I spent there I never 
saw any plant, bush, or tree suffering from want of rain, 
in spite of the fact that the winter passed without Its 
customary light showers. Nothing appears scorched 



20 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

from the sun, for desert plants are slow to dry up as 
well as slow to grow. Next to the healthy though som- 
bre color of the vegetation and the scarcity of trees, 
that which strikes the observer most when first travel- 
ling in the desert region is the isolation of each bush or 
plant. It is as if they were growing in a nursery. This 
arrangement is made necessary because the plants need 
large spaces from which to gather the scanty desert 
moisture, sending their roots out horizontally all around, 
or, if they grow in the bottoms of valleys where water is 
not too far below the surface, sending the roots over fifty 
feet down to reach it. 

Whatever grows is adapted to resist the fierce heat 
of the summer and the scarcity of rain. With some plants 
their structure prevents loss of water, others have a 
means of storing water, which is the case with the cacti, 
the juicy pulp of which may save the thirsty traveller's 
life. The water supply stored in the bisnaga, or barrel 
cactus (echinocactus), is enough to keep it in thriving 
condition for years. There is no need to die from thirst 
in the desert where this cactus grows. In the coastal 
region of the sand dune country it is not met with, but it 
is fairly common elsewhere. Cutting off the head and 
crushing the inside tissue to a pulp, one may obtain a 
liquid which tastes something like soda-water. It makes 
a fair substitute for water, and a canteen may be filled 
with it, though it does not keep very long; however, a 
new supply is usually not difficult to obtain. Horses 
and donkeys also like it. Life in this way may be sus- 
tained for many days. I heard of a Mexican woman who. 



DESERT VEGETATION 21 

having become demented on account of her husband's 
death, kept herself hving by this Kquid exclusively for 
many months until the authorities took charge of her. 
Also water may be obtained by making holes in a sahu- 
aro, for instance, by a pistol shot, although it is bitter 
and unpleasant to the taste in comparison vv^ith the juice 
of the barrel cactus. The flora of this desert, according 
to Dr. D. T. MacDougal, does not show any structural 
difference from species of moister regions, although their 
mode of life is necessarily very different. He points out 
that seeds of many of them remain wholly inactive dur- 
ing the summer rains that are accompanied by intense 
heat, and germinate in the winter, while others are unaf- 
fected by the rains of winter and the low temperature, 
and germinate in the summer. 

The most common of all the vegetation here is the 
greasewood {larrea tridentata). It is as characteristic of 
the region as are the many species of cacti and has a 
much less limited area than the latter. The greasewood 
belongs to the plains, which it sometimes covers, and 
gives them the appearance from a distance of vast ex- 
panses of yellowish green. It is found even on the coast 
and in the sand dunes half buried by the sand. People 
call it useless, but the Indians and Mexicans know better, 
as we shall see later on. The mezquite, the palo verde, 
and the ocotillo are all useful trees to the native, while 
the cacti and certain bushes and plants furnish him with 
fruits, edible seeds, and vegetable dishes, a few of which 
are not to be despised by a more fastidious palate. 

The fauna of the region includes a great many small 



22 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

rodents, and such large ones as the jack-rabbit and 
the cotton-tail; further, white-tailed deer, mule-deer, 
mountain-sheep, the pronghorn antelope, the lynx, the 
mountain-lion, the gray fox, and the badger, as well as, 
of course, the coyote. Among the birds may be men- 
tioned turkey vultures, hawks, and falcons, the burrow- 
ing owl and other owls, among them the diminutive 
elfowl {mi crop alias whitneyi), the smallest of its kind in 
America; further, ravens, four species of quail, pigeons, 
the roadrunner, the cactus wren, fly-catchers, thrashers, 
etc. Also aquatic birds, as wild geese, herons, cranes, 
wild ducks, etc., are seen in certain suitable localities. 

It has been found by actual experiment that small 
rodents of arid regions have been able to live for two or 
three years on hard seeds without water. The animals of 
the desert certainly impress one as having made them- 
selves considerably independent of the water question. 
Holes or burrows in the ground indicating the presence 
of rodents or of the badger are often found in great 
numbers miles away from water, the only water being a 
lonely tinaja in a distant mountain range, of which it 
would seem strange that they should have any knowledge. 
With the roving mountain-sheep it is different, although 
Mexicans and Indians insist that they drink only when 
rain falls. Similarly, I have it on the authority of an 
intelligent and observant American in Sonora that while 
the white-tailed deer in eastern Sonora do, those in its 
western part do not drink unless it rains, which is apt 
to be rarely. He has never seen their tracks at the water- 
holes there, though he has observed them elsewhere and 



\ 





MocKiNG-BiiLD (Mimiis) 



Elf-owl {Micropallas) 




Cotton-tail rabbit 



Young gray fox, at burrow 




Rattlesnake 



ADAPTATION TO ENVIRONMENT 23 

often not far from water. Another American of many- 
years' residence, who had shot deer south-east of Liber- 
tad, confirmed this. Certain it is that domesticated ani- 
mals of arid regions are much more enduring than those 
of moister regions. Cattle will live well for months with- 
out any other water than that of the juice of the cacti, 
which is, besides, their principal means of subsistence. 
Even horses do not come in to drink of their own free 
will every day during the winter. In my travels it was 
the usual thing during the winter time for our animals 
to go without water every second day; such is the cus- 
tom of that western desert country and its animals are 
in surprisingly good condition. On one occasion, in 
March, our horses and mules, travelling during the day, 
had no water for seventy-six hours. It was only the 
horses that suffered and this was more from the quality 
of the water than from the lack of it. There is one do- 
mestic animal, however, man's constant companion, the 
dog, that declines to adapt itself to desert conditions. 
Besides suffering from thirst, the hot soil makes its feet 
sore and it does not know on which leg to stand. Even 
the dogs of the Indians when travelling, especially in the 
hot season, remain behind panting in what little shade 
there may be under the bushes, and only continue their 
journey in the coolness of the evening. 

In such an environment live the Papago Indians, the 
people of the desert. LThey are a Pima tribe and speak 
the same language as the Pima Indians with some va- 
riations of dialect. Their number reaches perhaps four 
thousand five hundred, of whom not over seven hundred 



24 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

live in Mexico. The name Papago is usually interpreted 
as meaning "bean people." Their tribal name as em- 
ployed by themselves is Ootam, which means "the people." 
They call the Pima Indians Akimuri Ootam, "river peo- 
ple," referring appropriately to their habitat on the Gila 
River. The Pima call the Papago Toono Ootam, "des- 
ert people." . 

The early Spanish missionaries were unable to exer- 
cise much influence over this tribe. The indefatigable 
Jesuit, Father Kino, who in the present State of Sonora 
in 1687 established his first mission, Dolores, travelled 
much in the Papagueria or Pimeria Alta, as far as the 
Gila River and crossing the Colorado. He was treated 
kindly by the Papagoes; but they have, nevertheless, 
been described by the early chroniclers as wild and dan- 
gerous. According to Mr. Bandelier, there is no histor- 
ical record left of their customs and religion beyond that 
concerning the prevalence of witchcraft, which is still 
much in evidence. Even up to recent years the Papagoes 
made short work of medicine-men suspected of witch- 
craft. 

The topographical position of the missions that were 
established was such that with the forts, or presidios, 
they formed a barrier against the Apaches, who were the 
main obstacle to the Christianizing and civilizing efforts 
of the Spaniard. Some of the missions of the "Province 
of Sonora" grew to be very rich in cattle and cultivated 
lands, feeding, as a recent Mexican author says, "a mul- 
titude of pagans who flocked there and helped in the 
work of the mission when needed." Sometimes the 



PAPAGOES AS OF OLD 25 

missions furnished the troops with horses. In the Papa- 
gueria proper there were well-to-do missions such as 
Caborca, but the nature of most of that country would 
mdicate that they were generally on a modest scale. 
There was one in Sonoita and two on the Gila River. 
^^ ^75^-3 there was a revolt in Pimeria Alta, and in 1840 
the Papagoes again revolted against the government. 

With the expulsion of the Jesuits in 1767, and later 
of the Franciscans in 1828, the missions as well as the 
forts decayed and vanished. Changing political condi- 
tions in Mexico also contributed toward their disappear- 
ance. To-day the former missions interest few and are 
left to the archaeologist to trace. Such has been the fate 
also of the missions among the Yaqui, Opata, and Seri 
Indians. 

As for the Papagojthe greater part of the tribe never 

could be induced to live in pueblos, or villages, which was 

always the policy of the Spanish missionary. In spite of 

the efforts of the Jesuits and Franciscans, the Papagoes 

are still living in their rancherias as of old, half nomadic 

in habit, resorting in the winter to the sierras where 

water is more plentiful and where their cattle, horses, 

mules, and donkeys find good grazing ground. In the 

summer they move to the broad, flat valleys to devote 

themselves to agriculture which is made possible by the 

aid of the showers that fall in July and August. They 

do not usually pursue irrigation beyond the diverting of 

ram water into ditches. In the summer they raise maize, 

beans, watermelons, and squashes, and in the winter 

when infrequent light showers usually may be depended 



26 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

upon, peas, barley, and lentils may be planted, all on a 
small scale, according to Indian habits. Wheat, which is 
grown in November and harvested in May, is now the 
most important crop. 

By scooping up the earth they make dams in which 
rain-water is stored for household use as well as for their 
domestic animals. This is especially the case at the 
summer rancherias. Of late years they have also taken 
to the digging of wells, going sometimes as deep as sev- 
enty feet, but they have been known to find an abun- 
dance of water at a depth of only eighteen feet. Thus 
the Papagoes, though sedentary Indians, have distinct 
habitations for summer and winter. The aboriginal 
name for the summer rancherias is ooitak, fields, called 
by the Mexicans temporales. The winter rancherias are 
called k'lhirriy where there are houses {ki), and these 
might be called villages. In some cases the summer ran- 
cherias seem to be considered the more important habi- 
tations, and medicine lodges are found at both. 

As implacable enemies of the Apaches, the Papagoes 
were of some assistance to the early missionaries in help- 
ing the presidios to fight their savage foes, and they have 
several times, says J. F. Velasco, presented the govern- 
ment with ears and scalps of Apaches they had killed. 
Their innate enmity to the Apaches later gained them 
the favor of the Americans, who received their valuable 
assistance in campaigns against these marauders. They 
also gained the good-will of the Mexican Government by 
assisting in the war against the valiant Yaqui Indians. 

It has been the good fortune of the Papagoes to live 



ADVANTAGE OF AN ARID COUNTRY 27 

in a country which the white man as yet has not found 
it profitable to exploit by cattle raising or, still less, by 
dry farming. Therefore, they have so far been left alone 
in their native country, and besides they have even come 
into possession of a few wells which the Americans dug 
in their efforts to redeem the land. These natives are 
thus better situated than most of the tribes of North 
America. 

^he Papagoes are above medium height, rather dark 
in color, and of splendid physique. The women are in- 
clined to be stout. They are a peaceful but at the same 
time courageous people and show much intelligence. 
They are hospitable, as becomes a desert people, and if 
food is being prepared in the house when a stranger 
comes, some of it is offered to him, be he Indian, Mexi- 
can, or American^ 

In the central part of the Papagueria, especially in 
the large valley of Santa Rosa and the adjacent Quijotoa 
and Comobabi ranges, they live happy days without 
much interference from the whites. Some of the sum- 
mer rancherias astonished me by their extent of land 
fenced by wooden piles and poles, but in outlying dis- 
tricts many are forced to seek work from the whites, by 
whom they are much valued as laborers in the making 
of railroads, irrigation ditches, and in mining. The part 
of the tribe that lives in Sonora is much more disrupted ; 
they have lost most of their lands and are largely ser- 
vants of the Mexicans, doing efficient work as vaqueros 
(cowboys), miners, etc. The Papagoes also know how 
to "dry wash" gold at the placer mines, many of which 



28 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

are found In Sonora, and the discovery of one or two 
large placer mines has been due to these Indians. 

The Papagoes are by no means badly off, as a rule, 
and they manage to make a good living where, so far, 
the white man's efforts have failed. Their herds, adapt- 
ing themselves to the arid conditions, are increasing and 
making the Indian prosperous and comfortable. Good 
mules now carry burdens which his wife or he himself 
formerly had to toil under; cheese is made from the milk 
of their cows and sold or used for their own consump- 
tion, and, above all, they have wheat and maize in suffi- 
cient quantities to last them all the year round. They 
also have wheat and occasionally some head of cattle to 
sell, obtaining in return commodities of civilized life. 
The white man's kitchen utensils are being acquired, 
and the women have begun to find it more convenient to 
use flour than to grind the grain on the metate. No 
native race, though keeping its language, can help chang- 
ing its ideas under such conditions. In a very few years 
there will be no more interest attached to the Papago 
than to the native descendant of the once proud Aztec 
in the suburbs of the City of Mexico. 

Although the Papago in Arizona always insists upon 
speaking his own language, still he is rapidly losing his 
aboriginal beliefs, customs, and habits; even basketwork, 
for which the women of the tribe were noted, is falling 
into decay. Both in Arizona and Sonora the Indians 
have completely adopted the white man's garments. 
Some old man may still be found in the more remote 
parts wearing his aboriginal apparel, consisting of a 



THE PASSING OF THE INDIAN 29 

breech cloth around the loins, but this is getting to be 
an extremely rare sight, and it must be confessed that 
the ready-made blue overalls of the white laboring man 
of the West, the colored shirt, a picturesque neckerchief, 
and gray felt hat with straight brim are quite becoming 
to the young bucks with their superb, lithe, and supple 
figures, with somewhat narrow hips. No man wears his 
hair long any more, but tattooing marks in the face are 
still seen on men and women of the former generation in 
the Santa Rosa valley, where ancient customs and beliefs 
have been preserved longer than anywhere else. In this 
extensive valley are also found the most important ran- 
cherias. 

I was glad to have visited these Indians while there 
was still something of the ancient atmosphere left in the 
more remote parts of the Papagueria. The fact is that 
these decided changes in the conditions of the Papago 
have come about comparatively recently, perhaps during 
the last thirty or forty years. As Mr. Bandelier, the great 
authority on the history of the South-west, truly says, 
the ethnography of Arizona has not changed much since 
the year 1600. The Apaches by their raids altered tri- 
bal relations, but the change that most concerns us here 
is due to the settling of the country since its annexation 
by the United States, and in Sonora to the discovery of 
gold. Though possibly originating in a less arid region, 
the Papagoes, in relation to their environment, ought to 
be a no less interesting study than the country itself. 



CHAPTER III 

AN EXPEDITION INTO SOUTHERN ARIZONA— MY COMPANION— 
THE RANGE OF BABOQUIVARI— FRESNAL— PAPAGO MANNER OF 
CURING DISEASE— AT THE BOUNDARY— AN UNUSUAL RELIG- 
IOUS COMMOTION— MSIT TO A SACRED CAVE— INDIAN OASIS 

On June 20 I started from Tucson bound for a 
journey of exploration of that part of Arizona which is 
occupied by the Papago Indians. My sole companion 
was Jose Xavier Pablo, a full-blooded civilized native of 
that tribe, twenty-six years old. He had learned car- 
pentry in Tucson, in which he was as proficient as any 
white man. He was also a painter and plumber; in fact, 
he could turn his hand to almost anything of a practical 
nature. Thus, assisted by two other Indians, he had 
put up the telephone line between Tucson and the Pres- 
byterian Mission School, which he had frequented for 
nine years. He furnished his own wagon and two hardy 
horses bred in the desert, and before starting he shod his 
horses himself. Pablo also served as my interpreter. 
He was intelligent and reliable, besides being of an un- 
usually even temper; during the two months we travelled 
together, I do not remember ever to have known him 
cross or to lose his temper. 

In addition to the usual provisions, we had two can- 
teens of the generous Western size, each capable of hold- 
ing two and one-half gallons of water, and also one of 
smaller size. Of course, the water barrel on the side of 

30 



BEGINNING MY JOURNEY 31 

the wagon was not wanting; also rifle, shot-gun, and rid- 
ing saddle were taken along, not to mention photographic 
cameras and the necessary scientific Instruments. In the 
outskirts of Tucson, near an old mill, we filled our barrel 
and gave our horses a good drink at the clear, smooth- 
flowing stream of the Santa Cruz River, which was in 
such a delightful contrast to the arid landscape. 

It had been my intention to go down first along the 
eastern side of the Baboquivarl Range as far as La Osa 
Ranch, but the road turned out to be sandy and heavy, 
and I was obliged to return and limit my initiatory jour- 
ney to travelling along its western side. A happy-look- 
ing Papago family from the suburbs of Tucson passed us 
on their way to the sahuaros (giant cactus); they were 
going to spend the Dia de San Juan, midsummer day, In 
the country picking the much coveted fruit. An Indian 
on horseback was on his way to the hot city, Tucson, for 
the same celebration. Everyone to his taste! 

Baboquivarl is the familiar name given to an exten- 
sive range south-west of Tucson. From its central part 
rises a peak of somewhat striking shape which gave ori- 
gin to its name, Baboquivarl being a Spanish corruption 
of the Papago name Vavkivolik, meaning: "mountain 
{vav) narrow about the middle {kivoliky ; seen from the 
south, the almost perpendicular sides of the peak appear 
slightly drawn In at the base. The peak, rising nearly- 
fifty miles south-west of Tucson as the crow flies, can be 
seen from a great distance, from the neighborhood of the 
Jack-rabbit mine and the Ajo Mountains in the west, to 
Altar, Sonora, in the south. Prof. R. H. Forbes, of the 



32 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

University of Arizona, in July, 1898, succeeded in as- 
cending it, and by an aneroid barometer the height was 
found to be 7,850 feet above sea-level. The ascent was 
made from the west side, and, to quote his own words, 
"the extreme top of the mountain is a gentle oval about 
a hundred yards across. From this lofty vantage the eye 
sweeps over about three hundred miles of a terrific and 
almost untouched wilderness of rocks." There is a small 
pool on top which holds a few gallons of water after 
rain. In rainy weather, water drips down on the north 
side five hundred feet below the top, where several small 
pools were seen. 

It is perhaps at the latter place that the pond is found 
which is called by the Indians Viikan Shootak, "Lasting 
Water" {shootak, water), and which in the belief of the 
Indians was left by the sea after the deluge. At the time 
of the making of sahuaro wine for their great feasts of 
the summer, people go up there to get some of this water, 
after having first sung to it, to use in the wine making. 

On Friday, June 25, we approached from the west 
the large rancheria called Fresnal, situated among the 
foot-hills below the peak of Baboquivari, which looked 
more magnificent from that point of view than from any 
other I have seen. The air was very pure and transpar- 
ent, and I took a photograph of the peak at half-past five 
in the afternoon. Just as I cast a glance backward, 
before making a second exposure, I was astonished to 
see that the region toward the west and south was hazy, 
and I had scarcely time to make the exposure when the 
haze and a light wind, moist from the sea, arrived. A 




<: 



A LARGE RANCHERIA 33 

few minutes later the Baboquivari Range, at a distance 
of ten miles, was enveloped in a light fog. The change 
was not only seen but felt, the temperature fell, and the 
moisture of the air was very perceptible. As the wagon 
was heavy and the road led uphill, it grew late before 
our arrival, but the moon was half full, so we found our 
way easily in the now quite chilly evening. The spell of 
extremely dry air was broken and the season of rain 
showers approaching. 

We made our camp next to a big mezquite tree on a 
slope among the ranches. The weird singing of a med- 
icine-man sounded through the greater part of the night. 
Few are those Papagoes who have lost faith in their own 
doctors, and even the so-called policemen turn to them 
for relief if anything ails them. 

Fresnal consists in reality of three rancherias, and we 
found ourselves in the middle one. They are pleasantly 
situated among the foot-hills and look like villages. The 
name is derived from some ash trees that grow in the 
arroyo, the native name having the same meaning. Nat- 
urally, the rainfall is greater here in the mountains than 
on the llano and, according to local accounts, the arroyos 
at times run a whole day. Occasionally the water is six 
feet deep. The Indians say that the arroyos here carry 
water to the Sonoita River. 

The Indians of Fresnal are well-to-do; three or four 
of the men are reputed to own as many as two hundred 
head of cattle and fifty horses each. Wagons and good 
horses were seen, and there were plenty of chickens 
about. Men and women, especially the latter, looked in 



34 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

good condition; the young men were not particularly 
accommodating, as their Interest seemed to be centred In 
the corral, where they were breaking In horses, separat- 
ing cattle, etc. These natives had little to sell me beyond 
a fine basket used for harvesting sahuaro fruit. This 
kind of basket, which now Is becoming rare, is of large 
size, water-tight, and is carried on the head. Its decora- 
tive designs sometimes represent the sahuaro cactus. 

I visited Santiago, an old hunter, who, according to 
reports, used to be able to overtake deer, on the run, in 
half a day, and then shoot them with bow and arrow. 
In the hot weather these animals are not Inclined to run 
long, as their feet become sore. Santiago Is still very 
agile and quick In his movements and every day he goes 
out shooting quail, cotton-tails, jack-rabbits, and pigeons. 
His bow, which I secured, is made from that beautiful 
greenish blue bush of the desert called condalia. It is 
strengthened by an ox-tail hide pulled over it. The bow 
string is made from the ligaments of the back of the neck 
of the same animal. Arrows are made from the amole 
(yucca) flower stalk, the point being of cat-claw, tied by 
deer sinew. 

He was also willing to be photographed. He had 
been to Tucson and there had gone through the experi- 
ence of the camera, so he had no objection but would 
expect some gratuity. I took three or four snapshots 
with my kodak, and he asked fifty cents, which I gave 
him, but he demanded fifty cents for each exposure, in 
which I could hardly humor him. The Papagoes all 
have a great disinclination to being photographed, and 



A MEDICAL PRACTITIONER 35 

look upon it as being worth a good deal of money to the 
one who submits to the operation. His bow and four 
arrows, the result of much labor, he sold for ^1.25. I 
gave him some tobacco, candy, and raisins, and we sep- 
arated great friends. 

In the afternoon I arrived at a house outside of which 
an old medicine-man, Castillo, was singing to soothe a 
patient, a middle-aged, powerful looking man who was 
lying on his back in front of him. His singing was ac- 
companied by the rasping of two sticks; one end of the 
notched one he held by his left hand, while the other 
end rested against an inverted basket, and he drew the 
rasping stick each time up toward him and then down, 
the opposite movement to the one which we should use 
to produce the same result. Near the basket on the 
ground an effigy of a horned lizard had been placed ; it 
was made of wood and daubed with ochre, its head 
turned toward the patient. 

Some Indians came up smiling as if they wished it 
to be understood that they did not believe in the per- 
formance, for they knew that white men laugh at this. 
One of them obligingly brought me a basket for sale as 
well as three small ancient objects, a flint arrow-point, a 
spinning whorl, and a small perforated stone disk, all 
threaded on a string. In the meantime the medicine- 
man, whom I watched from my horse, was finishing his 
treatment by placing the effigy repeatedly on the patient's 
leg, breathing and blowing at the same time. The man 
had a pain in his leg which had been caused by a horned 
lizard, for, according to Papago beliefs, all animals have 



36 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

the faculty of making people ill except the deer and the 
pronghorn antelope. To relieve the illness the doctor 
had sung a song to the animal, asking it to take the 
pain away. He then walked into his house; somebody 
must have told him that I was a makai (doctor, medicine- 
man), for a few minutes later, to my surprise, he brought 
out his medicine basket, easily recognized by its long 
shape, and came up to me. We sat down on the ground; 
he took off the cover and began to unpack the contents 
of his tray. 

Many people gathered around us and the sick man 
half rose from his mat in order to turn around to see who 
the stranger was. There were many remedies of a sim- 
ilar character to the one just described. Images of cer- 
tain animals, accompanied by appropriate ceremonies 
and exhortations, are thought to reheve ailments. Like 
the native doctor himself, an animal is thought to be 
able to cause illness as well as to cure. The turtle 
causes stiffness, the butterfly produces vomiting, and the 
badger gives backache. The deer makes persons cough, 
and their voices weak, and may give consumption; but 
a deer-tail, placed on a stick and manipulated in the 
proper way by the medicine-man, will cure that illness, 
for, as Castillo added by way of explanation, *'it is not 
often you see the deer thin." A piece of clay taken from 
a gopher's burrow is used against excessive menstrua- 
tion or stomach pain. The sun is apt to give fever, and 
a patient suffering thus is relieved at sunrise; during the 
incantations of the doctor a small wooden image of the 
sun rests on the ground, while the patient faces the east. 



THE MAGIC OF A PLUME 37 

The old man seemed glad to explain everything. He 
was also willing to sell me some of his treasures. One 
of them was a medicine-man's plume consisting of four 
eagle plumes tied together so that they diverged two by 
two. When used, these are held by the quill ends as a 
handle and moved in the air forward and backward as 
if dusting an object. When the young girls come of age 
they are "dusted" in this way from all evil. The imple- 
ment was new and well made, and I wanted to buy it. 
"The plume is very valuable," he answered; "with us it 
is at least worth as much as a horse or a cow." He 
would, however, make it easy for me by letting me have 
it for ^2.50. I presented him with a pouch of tobacco 
and a handful of candy, the cause of much interest to his 
little grandchildren who had been clinging to the good- 
natured old man all the time that he was explaining. 
He also promised to show me the so-called Montezuma's 
Cave, in the peak of Baboquivari, some day. 

In a light wagon which Pablo borrowed we started 
on an excursion south, to be possibly extended beyond 
the border to Pozo Verde. The day was moist and 
warm. We passed several extensive summer rancherias 
or temporales as they are usually called. The rude 
fences of mezquite looked substantial and the Indian 
ranches gave an impression of prosperity. At two places 
there were dams also fenced in, but they were empty; 
they had been made by scooping up the rich soil with 
scrapers and horse-power. The water in such ponds 
lasts only three or four months and is not for irrigating 
purposes, but solely for the use of men and beasts. The 



38 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

Papagoes do not bathe in them; during the rains they 
get their baths in the arroyos, men and women bathing 
separately. There was not a soul to be seen anywhere, 
as the Indians were still at this time, the end of June, in 
or near the mountains with their cattle and horses. 

From a lately established summer rancheria, called 
San Miguel, southward, the country assumes a different 
aspect, forming beautiful grassy plains or downs. The 
mezquites, far apart and small, take the place of grease- 
woods and the cacti have almost disappeared. There 
was an abundance of very dry grass of a whitish yellow 
hue. As the air was laden with moisture, it was to be 
expected that the coloring of sky and mountains would 
be fine toward sunset. The western sky beamed with 
the translucent color of light yellow or orange, while the 
mountains, which during the glaring light of the day had 
shown no color beyond a dull gray, appeared deep blue. 
Much more intense than the air-blue and complementary 
to that of the setting sun, the color extended to all the 
mountains around the great bajio (basin), while at its 
western edge a long narrow strip of light green, due to 
an unusual growth of mezquites, added to the variety. 
To most people it is not apparent that there is much col- 
oring in any landscape except that caused by inherent 
qualities, as by vari-colored leaves of trees; if they would 
lie down on the ground and view the scenery horizon- 
tally, they would probably have their eyes opened from 
this unusual vantage point. 

There is a well fifteen feet deep at a lonely Indian 
ranch just on the border, but as the place was found to 



UGLY EFFECTS OF CIVILIZATION 39 

be temporarily deserted, and there would be no one to 
look after our wagon, we had to abandon our intended 
trip to Pozo Verde, the largest Papago rancheria at the 
present time in Sonora. Its name, Green Spring, has 
the same significance in the Papago language, and the 
locality is important in the native mythology. Baboqui- 
vari rises about a thousand feet above the llano near 
the boundary line, losing itself in Mexico in low ranges 
and mountains. 

On our return we made a detour into a rancheria 
called Sepanovak (''Smell of the Coyote"), which was sit- 
uated in a narrow valley of the Baboquivari Range. It 
had been settled of late years and was small and unat- 
tractive. Discarded clothing was lying about, and the in- 
habitants looked like poor white people, although they 
owned lots of live stock. Judging from the fine looking 
fat horses and cattle down on the plains, a different opin- 
ion would have been formed of the owners; it was some- 
thing like the disappointment one feels when a smart 
turnout of horses with driver and footman discloses or- 
dinary-looking people inside the carriage. Natural and 
harmonious conditions are the only ones that count in 
life. 

One interesting family, that of Ramon Cachora, lived 
a little further up the valley from here, he, his two sons 
and his son-in-law having been leaders in a religious 
movement of a white man's stamp. They were so-called 
educated Indians, and a daughter of his had been to 
Carlisle. It was an anomalous case, for, strange to 
say, they had become converts to the revivalism of the 



40 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

prophet Dovvie, who a few years ago made such a stir in 
various parts of the United States. One of his agents, 
a lady in PhcEnix, liad been instrumental in bringing 
this about. 

To understand this conversion, it must be remem- 
bered that all Indians are of a religious disposition. In 
their aboriginal state, while never giving up their own 
beliefs, the Indians have little objection to any foreign 
creed; the more religion the better for them. They are 
quite sincere about it. When these Papagoes heard of 
the strange teaching of the modern Elijah, it appealed to 
them. The world was coming to an end and they were 
going to get ready; people sold what little they owned 
and settled in the Comobabi Mountains awaiting the 
arrival of the new Messiah. There were from forty to 
fifty souls all told, men, women, and children. Ramon 
Cachora, who was well off, sold his two hundred head of 
cattle; he became the leader and they sustained them- 
selves mainly with the proceeds of this sale. There was 
no white man with them. They had everything in com- 
mon and their rules were strict; brandy and tobacco 
were forbidden. Sometimes they had services lasting the 
entire day. For three years they waited for the Messiah 
to come; then hunger broke up the sect. 

A herd of horses and a number of cows, many with 
calves, that had come In to drink the night before, walked 
off again In the morning to pasture In the plains some 
six or eight miles away. I asked a man how long a time 
It would be before they returned and he answered: ''A 
few will come next day, most of them the day after to- 



AN ANCIENT FORTIFICATION 41 

morrow in the afternoon, and some will not return until 
the third day." It was the hottest time of the year — the 
end of June. 

Three miles from here, just about where the llano 
begins, there rises a small hill, four hundred feet high, 
called La Ventana. On the west side it has been forti- 
fied by the ancient people with half a dozen or more 
stone walls of the usual description. The walls are per- 
haps more massive than is the case at most places. The 
fortifications had a remarkably fresh look about them, as 
if they had been in recent use. On top, where blocks 
had been broken off to form walls and parapets, the un- 
derlying rock still looked as untouched by the hand of 
time as if the work had been done within two years. 
Circular or square enclosures of the usual type are seen 
on a natural terrace near the top. A fairly well con- 
structed track leads up to the summit where a rattle- 
snake was resting in a cool cavity. A ground-squirrel 
was noticed, and on the hill-side two camping places of 
the gray fox were observed, each under a small bush, the 
ground having been worn quite smooth. 

The vast plain is impressive from the top ; the ranges, 
enveloped in a blue haze, appeared small, Comobabi and 
Quijotoa in the north-west being the nearest. To the 
right of the Comobabi Range, in one place only, toward 
north north-west, the view was unobstructed as far as 
the eye could see. In the south-west the small hills near 
Sonoita were visible. The many arroyos on the west 
side of the Baboquivari Range are worthy of note; they 
are short, quite deep, and impossible for wagons to cross 



42 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

until they widen out into the plains. For this reason the 
road, such as it is, from Fresnal southward makes a 
detour west. 

At the well of Fresnal our horses, having been with- 
out water for twenty-two hours, each drank nine buck- 
etfuls. The bucket was not large, but contained more 
than a gallon. A visit was made to the so-called Monte- 
zuma's Cave, once sacred to the Papago as the principal 
habitation with which tradition credits Sihu, also called 
litoi, the most important mythical personage of the 
Papago mythology, being their elder brother as well as 
creator of the world. The cave is called Elder Brother's 
House (in Papago, Sihuki; ki^ house). It is situated at 
six miles' distance from Fresnal. Wc climbed nearly 
one thousand feet, and on the south side of a hill, below 
the peak, our guide, the medicine-man, pointed out the 
entrance to the sacred place, half hidden among bushes. 

It was closed with a wall of loose stones and was so 
small that a man could only squeeze through with diffi- 
culty. The cave was found to be spacious and well 
formed. At one corner was deposited several hundred 
arrows, upright in a bunch, with nothing but the wooden 
part remaining. No flint points were visible. There is 
another cave on the east side of the Baboquivari Range, 
discovered lately by Mr. Jefferson Milton, where a con- 
siderable number of obsidian-tipped arrows were secured, 
one of which is reproduced at page 96. 

Though a few showers had fallen lately, still no grass 
had yet made its appearance and travel began to be dif- 
ficult. The Indians had very little to sell in the way of 




Peak of Baboqutvari 



OcoTiLLO {Foiiquicria splendcns) 





/.;■'<-'". 



.^k 







Entrance to the sacred cave, at foot 
OF peak of Baboquivari 



Barrel cactus 



GRATEFUL RAIN 43 

straw, barley, or wheat, the usual feed for animals. If 
our horses had not been hardy creatures of the desert, 
we should not have been able to move about much at 
that time of the year. I decided to return to Menager's 
store, at present called Indian Oasis, where we might 
succeed in securing forage. 

A Papago was an efficient clerk In the store. Near by 
was a small village of civilized Indians; the women, who 
had been to school near Tucson, after a while responded 
in English, very softly spoken. A phonograph, which 
was the only one I saw in the Papagueria, was produced 
and operated for my entertainment. Many Indians came 
into the store from the neighboring country. As they 
were not in the habit of carrying provisions, they were 
hungry and looked it. I treated them to a generous 
breakfast and my reward was the information which 
they volunteered concerning one of their festivals, con- 
nected with the gathering of the fruit of the sahuaro, the 
giant cactus. It was to take place the next day at a 
rancheria called Noria, situated in the Comobabi Moun- 
tains at no great distance, and I decided to go there. 

Opportunely for my journey, in the evening of July 
4 unusually heavy rain fell during forty-five minutes, the 
storm making short work of my tent which I decided to 
leave behind here on account of its being so large and 
inconvenient. Nearly an inch of rain must have fallen, 
bringing about in this brief space of time a remarkable 
change in the appearance of the landscape. The dry 
creek ran with water and the playa below was changed 
into a shallow lake, the frogs filling the air with their loud, 



44 



NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 



welcome voices. Next day in the afternoon we pulled out, 
though the ground, soaked with water, made travel heavy. 
Our wagon was stuck for half an hour, but after that we 
made our way fairly well, for the night's rain was found 
to have extended only a couple of miles westward. We 
arrived at our destination at dusk. 



CHAPTER IV 

THE GIANT CACTUS OR SAHUARO— THE SAHUARO FEAST AT NORIA 
—DANCING AND SINGING— THE MEDICINE LODGE— TOBACCO- 
WELL RECEIVED— DISSERTATIONS WITH THE INDIANS— AN 
ADVENTURE— AN ANCIENT FESTIVAL— NATIVE ORATORY— OB- 
JECTION TO PHOTOGRAPHY— ARTISTIC GIFTS OF A NATIVE 

The giant cactus {Cereus giganteus), or sahuaro, 
which is the direct and indirect cause of such festivals as 
the one we were to witness, is by far the most noteworthy- 
representative of plant life in the desert, being, in fact, 
one of the most remarkable plants on the globe. It 
reaches a height of forty to fifty feet, sometimes even 
more. At times the sahuaro appears as a single trunk, 
like a column, but more often branches of nearly the 
same thickness protrude from it, stretching upward arms 
lifted as in appeal. The evergreen trunk and branches 
have deep longitudinal furrows or flutes, armed with 
spines and wonderfully adapted for retaining moisture. 
Acting in a manner similar to that of the bellows of an 
accordion, these close together during drought and open 
again to receive moisture. 

It avoids the great belt of sand dunes that stretches 
along the upper part of the Gulf of California, from Port 
Lobos westward, and ceases to appear south of the Gila 
Range and Sierra Blanca. Often a single column, the 
only one on a whole mountain, appears on top, re- 
sembling a sentinel on guard. At other times such a 

45 



46 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

single column has found the means of existence on some 
terrace on the mountain side, reminding an imaginative 
traveller of the ruins of a temple in Greece. Along the 
mountains east and south of Sonoita, Sonora, this cactus 
attains its most luxuriant growth. Here as well as near 
other ranges impressive forests of these gigantic, singular 
structures of the plant dominion appear, calling to mind 
creations from the carboniferous period. 

In May the tips of the trunks and branches produce 
a multitude of superb cream-white flowers. Toward the 
end of June the famous sahuaro fruit appears, the size 
and shape of a large hen's egg. A spiny skin which is 
easily removed protects the juicy, crimson, and fleshy sub- 
stance in which numerous black seeds are imbedded. 
Although possessing not quite as much flavor as the 
related and more famous pitahaya fruit of Mexico, the 
sahuaro is a palatable relish in the excessively hot and 
dry cUmate, containing also, like the pitahaya, consider- 
able nourishment. 

The violent storms of the desert make no impression 
on the giant cactus. However, one wonders that it can 
exist at all, since the fruit and the plant itself prove in 
many ways such an attraction to animals. As soon as 
the sweet fruits ripen they are attacked by birds, while 
those that fall to the ground are eaten by hungry and 
thirsty animals, which prevent the seeds from germinat- 
ing. The woodpeckers make large cavities In the juicy 
pulp of the trunk, the plant protecting itself by growing 
a hard tissue all around the cavity, in which various 
kinds of owls, falcons, and fly-catchers make their nests; 



THE USEFUL SAHUARO 47 

here also bees deposit their honey and bats make their 
homes. Sometimes rabbits attack the stem to get at the 
juicy pulp. 

To the Indians the sahuaro is invaluable, and by 
tacit understanding they consider it a crime to cut one 
down. The grateful fruit comes at a time when most 
needed, and the Indians leave their habitations to camp 
among the sahuaro as long as the season lasts. Not only 
does the fruit then furnish them with their principal 
means of subsistence, but the greater part is boiled down 
to a sirup for future consumption in the winter, serving 
also as material for an intoxicating drink, which is used 
at the sahuaro festival. The seeds, too, are eaten after 
having first been ground on the metate, and they taste 
better than would be expected ; the Indians also feed their 
fowls with them and many sackfuls are brought back to 
the houses after the sahuaro harvest. The wooden skele- 
tons or ribs of the sahuaro furnish the Papago with light, 
strong, and elastic building stuff, and from the same ma- 
terial he makes the long stick which is needed to bring 
the fruit down from its lofty elevation, coloring the pole 
red with the juice of the fruit. Also chicken coops, chairs, 
traps, and similar articles of the household are manufact- 
ured from sahuaro ribs. Even the wooden tissue bags 
produced by the woodpeckers are made to serve as water 
bottles or drinking vessels. 

So important a part does this cactus play in the life 
of the Papago that their year begins with the sahuaro 
harvest. The season lasts from the middle of June till 
the middle of July. Every rancheria is supposed to make 



48 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

a feast for the occasion, which will insure rain and good 
crops. An essential part of the festival is the drinking 
of wine, produced by mixing the sahuaro sirup in a cer- 
tain proportion with water and allowing this to ferment. 
The name of this greatest festival of the year is navaita, 
derived from navait, their word for the wine. 

Elder Brother, so their tradition runs, created the 
sahuaro by placing beads of his perspiration in the 
ground. He walked in ceremonial circuits around it for 
four days, and the plant began to give fruit. He also 
made a jar in which he put the juice of the fruit which 
he mixed with water. "Let us see if we can not make 
rain with this to refresh the thirsty soil," he said to the 
jar. And its contents became wine, and it began to 
rain, as he thought it would. Therefore, to this day, the 
Papago make sahuaro wine and celebrate a great feast 
in accordance with Elder Brother's commandments. The 
wine was given by him in order that they might get 
drunk, and then rain would follow. 

On our arrival at the rancheria of Noria we learned 
that the wine making had been started that morning. 
The festival was to begin in the evening, the singing and 
dancing lasting as usual for two nights, by the end of 
which time the wine would be ready for consumption. 
An hour after dark, as we were preparing our supper, a 
loud Indian voice from the other side of the arroyo on 
which we were camped sounded forth in the dark, still 
night, inviting people to gather for the festival. Stand- 
ing in front of the medicine lodge, facing the east, the 
herald announced over and over again: "Darkness has 




Sahuaro, or giant cactus {Cereus giganleiis) 




SlXGLE-CULUilN SAHUARO 



Sahuaro, dry, showing its woi_>den 
structure 



BEGINNING THE FESTIVAL 49 

already covered us a good while, it is now time to begin 
to sing and dance, and everybody bring tobacco." 

We had three Indian guests at our meal, and after- 
ward we all went over to the dancing place, or, as the 
Indians call it, the singing place (njuikot; njui, sing), a 
level piece of ground always found in front of the medi- 
cine lodge. In the dim light a long string of eagle plumes 
hanging across the space between two upright poles from 
east to west could be discerned. Near the western pole 
a solitary fire was burning; two medicine-men were sit- 
ting there with their backs turned toward it and facing 
the east. Behind the fire, in the west, was the lodge, 
and in front of this stood a jacal, the light shed invari- 
ably seen near the dwelling or lodge. They sat there 
immovable in mystic contemplation of rock crystals and 
queer objects which were spread before them on the 
ground, and by the aid of which rain is procured; among 
them, my informant said, was a small stone, translucent 
and bright, which few have seen. If rain is not near, the 
stone is very warm and has to be cooled and purified, an 
operation which the medicine men were about to under- 
take. 

My attention was next attracted to a long basket of 
enormous proportions placed between east and west on 
the ground at the foot of the western pole, near the doc- 
tors. It was of the same oblong shape as the ordinary 
medicine basket of so many tribes, and serves as a recep- 
tacle for the sacred paraphernalia of the lodge. Here 
the string of eagle feathers hanging near by is kept dur- 
ing the year. It is provided with a cover of the same 



50 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

material, considered by the Indians as its blanket, which, 
when the basket is in use, is placed on the ground for it 
to ''sit" on. 

Around these holy men and the fire and the long 
string of plumes that stretched across, danced men and 
women, holding each other by the hand and moving 
around in a circle. They marched in time, with firm steps, 
placing left foot behind right, and proceeding in this way 
against the sun's apparent movement. They all sang in 
unison and in time with their steps, the leader swinging 
a rattle, and he and those nearest to him exerting their 
lungs to their fullest capacity. There were always two 
or three walking ahead of him, as everybody was eager to 
be near the leader in order to catch the tune. In this 
advance guard there was also a female leader, a soprano. 
What a wealth of songs there is among these Indians! 
During the two nights new songs were presented all the 
time, not only new texts but even new, though somewhat 
similar, melodies. People were sitting or lying around 
the circle of dancers, stepping into it whenever their fancy 
moved them. 

When four songs had been sung, taking about an 
hour, a short pause was made, and the performers would 
sit down, many of them smoking. After a few minutes, 
only the leader would rise, and, standing in front of the 
jacal with his face toward the east, he would sing one 
verse of the song they were going to take up next, this 
time in a low voice, just to refresh their memories. Then 
he would step forward, dancing again and bursting forth 
into loud singing, immediately joined by the multitude in 



SAHUARO WINE-MAKING 51 

their enthusiastic efforts to make an impression on the 
gods. 

The next morning, when I went to inspect the place 
in dayhght, I found the leader and other functionaries 
sleeping peacefully on the ground under the jacal in front 
of the lodge, tired from their exertions of the night. I 
was permitted to enter the lodge, where large earthen- 
ware jars were standing full to overflowing with the pre- 
cious sahuaro fluid. A slight cavity had been dug in the 
ground for each jar, serving as a receptacle and covered 
with branches of greasewood upon which the jar rested 
neatly. The reason for this arrangement, according to 
the Indians, was to keep the fluid warm and because 
they had always done it in this way. Heavy spume was 
rising from most of the jars, showing that fermentation 
was taking place. A fire was kept up in the lodge in 
order that the temperature of the air should be even and 
favorable for fermentation. The solemn function of 
mixing the sahuaro sirup with water takes place in the 
morning hours under the jacal outside. 

The lodge was a circular, dome-shaped grass hut, the 
ancient form of Papago habitation, examples of which 
are still frequently seen in the central part of the Papa- 
gueria. The lodge, however, is larger than the dwelling- 
house, hence its name Kuki, "Big House." {Ku, big, 
large.) This was rather a smaH one, twelve feet in di- 
ameter and six feet high, and scrupulously clean inside. 
The framework of these primitive houses consists of mez- 
quite posts; from two to four forked uprights in the mid- 
dle support the dome-shaped roof, which is made of sa- 



52 



NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 



huaro ribs, surmounted with greasewood twigs and some 
large coarse grass called sacate Colorado. The grass is 
kept in place by hoops of ocotillo inside and outside, 
placed at intervals of eight or ten inches. The top of 
the house is covered with earth. 

The entrance is small, usually only two and one-half 
feet high and two feet wide, and is provided with a grass 
door which, when not in active use, leans up against the 
wall outside. To get in or out one is obliged to crawl on 
hands and knees. The fire is made in the centre, and 
there is no other escape for the smoke than the door, 
there being no window; as the people inside generally sit 
on the ground, the smoke does not trouble them; besides, 
as the house is warm, a large fire is not needed. In the 
summer these dwellings are delightfully cool, affording 
also excellent protection against the violent, though short- 
lasting, rain-storms of the desert. 

Usually a light stockade of ocotillo and other kinds 
of poles runs around the lodge to prevent the cattle from 
eating the grass of which it is made. In this house the 
youth are instructed in the traditions and beliefs of the 
tribe, and here is discussed everything of more or less 
importance, meetings being held every evening of the 
year. The man who is in charge of the lodge and its sa- 
cred objects is elected for life. He lives near by and is 
called Keeper of the Smoke, which means tobacco smoke. 
The name for tobacco is viv; when used for certain sa- 
cred purposes it is called coyote tobacco {pan vivuka). 
The young plants are covered with greasewood branches, 
but the Papagoes nowadays rarely grow the weed and 



SIMPLE MINDS 53 

usually commercial brands have to be resorted to. It is 
smoked in corn husks. The leaves of viopoli, a bush in 
the foot-hills, are also sometimes smoked. 

In the afternoon the leading men began to wake 
from their slumber and, as there were many features of 
the feast I desired to have explained to me, I induced 
them to have a conference. Outside of the house of the 
Keeper of the Smoke there was some convenient shade 
and, stretched on a mat with the rest, I had a couple of 
hours of very interesting conversation. Many years 
amongst the Indians gave me some knowledge of the 
fundamental traits of their religious ideas, which evi- 
dently very much surprised those present. They had 
such fine faces, full of determination and sincerity! 
Ragged and poor though these people were, I could not 
help admiring the expression of their countenances, es- 
pecially those of the principal men, flushed with enthu- 
siasm attendant on the festival. They gave me clear 
and unequivocal answers. When I had finished all my 
questions one medicine-man said: "I suppose he is one 
of those white men who want us to give up all our an- 
cient beliefs and customs." Assured on this point, they 
said they were glad to have me remain at the rancheria 
as long as I wished. They also informed me of a cal- 
endar record preserved by a man who lived in the Babo- 
quivari Range. Of this I made a note as the object for 
an excursion. 

"Might I see what was inside the long basket on the 
dancing places .?" I asked. This they could not very well 
do. Few of the Indians themselves had seen it, they 



54 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

said, and they were not In a position to show me; per- 
haps the makai (medicine-men), who were coming to- 
night to tell when the rain would arrive, would show me. 
But to see those things was a risky affair, connected with 
possibilities of harm to the beholder. As we were re- 
turning to camp Pablo said to me: "Probably those 
Indians never before spoke like that to a white man." 

The rest of the day was spent in a house to house 
canvass and many baskets were bought. In the even- 
ing Pablo and I again walked over to see the dancing 
which had commenced anew at dusk. He soon joined 
the dancers and evidently the "old Adam" reasserted 
itself within him, for he danced with fervor the whole 
night. 

As one sees everything better by taking part oneself 
in the proceedings, I, too, broke into the circle, grabbing 
those next to me by the hand. The orthodox way is to 
intertwine the fingers as one may see sailors do when 
they are ashore, or peasant girls of Norway when going 
to a dance in their finery. My white dress made me a 
conspicuous object in the dark night, and my dancing 
and singing evoked merriment among those sitting around. 
There was no difficulty in getting into the right tune, 
and my partners on either side, as well as the rest of 
those actively engaged, were too serious about their work 
to be distracted. 

Just about the time that I entered into the perform- 
ance, the medicine-men who were sitting with their legs 
crossed in front of the fire began to show activity. One 
of them suddenly bent forward and put his mouth near 



HOW TO MAKE IT RAIN 55 

the sacred translucent stone that was lying before him; 
then he began to breathe forcibly and to blow over it, 
emitting at the same time a peculiar sound, which made 
it difficult for me to refrain from laughing. The stone, 
which had become warm through the long drought, was 
now being cooled and cleaned that it might attract rain. 
For fully ten minutes he remained thus at work; then 
both medicine men stood up and, holding eagle plumes 
in their hands, began to run around inside our circle, all 
the time thrusting the plumes upward toward the sky to 
draw rain-clouds. It is curious to reflect that Indians as 
intelligent as the Papago should so absolutely believe in 
the power of the medicine-men to make rain. In regard 
to man's relations to nature, the Indians have, since the 
discovery of America, learned nothing and forgotten noth- 
ing, and it will take many centuries to change their mode 
of thinking. 

After an hour's dancing I went alone to my camp 
where my sleeping cot was awaiting me. It is a folding 
one and, when put up, stands high above the ground, 
which is convenient both in case of moisture of the 
ground and as a precaution against noxious creatures, 
such as scorpions, etc. The moon was shining, the night 
was warm, and I went to sleep under the open sky, as my 
custom is in this climate, rejoicing at the feeling of secu- 
rity one has while among Indians who have not been too 
much with whites. I must have been sleeping quite a 
while when I was awakened by the violent barking of 
my dog. On opening my eyes I beheld the disagreeable 
sight of a tall, half-nude Indian standing beside me in 



56 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

the moonlight. " Cot-npanero," he said, ejaculating a few 
more words In unintelligible Spanish, at the same time 
thrusting forward a big open bottle with bright red con- 
tents, the smell of which at once made me aware of the 
situation. He was offering me sahuaro wine as a proof 
of his esteem. But he might have chosen a more reason- 
able hour for his hospitality, so I bluntly answered: *'No; 
I will have nothing until I get up." He disappeared 
among the bushes as quietly as he had come; in fact, he 
did not give me time to ascertain what had become of 
him, and it seemed like an unpleasant dream. However, 
being desirous of getting some rest before the ceremonies 
that were sure to take place at sunrise, I fell asleep again 
after a while. 

The wine did not mature as early as expected, and in 
the morning one of the principal men told the people to 
gather when the sun would be half-way between noon 
and sunset, when the culmination of the feast would take 
place. One of the Indians confided to me that the people 
thought I was all right; I danced with the proper step. 
Gradually crowds began to assemble, many of the young 
men on horseback; slender of figure but above medium 
height, they were of prepossessing appearance, sitting 
erect and following well the movements of the horse. 
Everybody was in his best attire, all adopted from the 
whites, and everybody, both men and women, looked 
clean. But there was no hurry about anything. After 
a few hours passed in this way, the Keeper of the Smoke, 
who was the general manager of all the proceedings, was 
seen to spread out blankets and mats on the dancing 



A NATIVE BANQUET 57 

place, at each of the four corners of the world, to use 
the Indian expression. The principal men seated them- 
selves on the mats toward north and south; the two 
medicine-men sat down on the eastern mat, and the 
Keeper of the Smoke on the western. 

The multitude surged forward and took their seats, 
on the ground, I among them, all forming an imposing 
square that symbohzed the four corners of the world, 
each of the four mats in that way remaining in the mid- 
dle of a line of the square. Hardly had we seated our- 
selves before the vessels containing the wine were brought 
inside of the square from the lodge by four young men, 
each one carrying a vessel. This wine should have been 
carried in those large, beautiful, water-tight baskets of 
native workmanship, but, alas, there was only one of 
those, an indication of the declining days of the tribe. 
The remainder of the receptacles were replaced by three 
inappropriate looking buckets bought in the white man's 
store, more practical, to be sure, but infinitely more ugly 
than those superb baskets decorated with artistic designs. 
The young men went straight across the dancing place 
to the two medicine men in the east, who immediately 
set to work to bless the contents, driving out any evil 
spirit that the vessels might contain. This they accom- 
plished by making slow strokes with the palms of the 
hands around the vessels from in front back toward 
themselves. They also sacrificed a little of the contents 
to the gods, dipping their hands into the liquor and 
throwing some of it about. It was done in a desultory 
fashion, showing, as one man explained to me, that they 



58 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

did not know their business well. The tribe, as I have al- 
ready said, is daily losing its ancient beliefs and customs. 

The distribution now began. The young men went 
in pairs, stopping before every one In his turn; each of 
the two would dip a gourd into the wine and hand It 
over. The recipient would, before drinking, lift it up 
toward the young man, saying: ^^ Navatshf" (friend!); If 
he were a relative, he would address him by the name of 
the relationship. It was evident from the beaming smile 
on the faces of those who drank that the wine awoke 
much satisfaction. My turn also came and I must con- 
fess that in this dry and hot climate, the beverage, when 
well made, and coming cool from the jars, does not 
taste at all bad, though I soon grew tired of it. 

Four times in this manner had the young men made 
the rounds of the square, offering the wine quickly and 
with much precision, when two old men appeared on 
the scene. They advanced from the lodge, holding each 
other by the hand, fingers intertwined, and, beginning at 
the east, went In turn to each of the different mats where 
the principal men were sitting. The mat is called vaaki^ 
which connects us with the mythical long ago when the 
hunter put up a small round house of that name near 
water, in which he stayed during the heat of the day. 
At each corner of the world Is a vaaki or hunter's lodge. 
At each such "house'' a long speech was made by one 
of the two old men, whose name was "Mocking Bird 
Talk." Addressing the most important man on the mat 
by his degree of relationship, or as a friend, as the case 
might be, he tells him to look for a white, shining house 



PERSUASIVE POWERS 59 

in the east, from where black clouds come. "The black 
clouds have many inclinations in different directions and 
we can, by our singing, turn them toward us and influ- 
ence the winds to make this poor earth moist" he says. 
Then he asks for a song, and in response the group sit- 
ting on that mat sings about rain. After having in the 
same way solicited songs from the rest of the groups, 
seated at the cardinal points, and received immediate 
and enthusiastic answers by invariably well-executed 
songs, the old men return to the lodge. 

They immediately, however, come back for a similar 
round of visits, the speaker this time asking for an ex- 
pression of friendship for himself. Every one answers 
"friend!" or gives him his degree of relationship. Next, 
the groups on the four mats sing in turn and, after that, 
wine is again offered around four times. 

The pair of old men reappear and the speaker again 
admonishes those on the mats to look for the shining: 
house in the east, where the black clouds are. A won- 
derful cloud reaches up to heaven and in it lives the 
mocking-bird. He comes out, jumps around, puts his 
head back and talks. "Through your strength," he 
says, addressing the mocking-bird as if present, "come 
all the clouds that are, all the winds that are, all the 
lightning, all the thunder. From all the mountains 
spring up other clouds joining the rest. It matters not 
how wide the earth is, the clouds touch all the sides. 
It matters not how many sierras there are, the clouds 
cover them all. It matters not how many arroyos there 
are side by side, the clouds cut across them; nor does it 



6o NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

matter how many small arroyos there are, the clouds 
cover them all. When the rain comes down, the flood 
carries along the sand and the loose trunks and the 
sticks and fallen branches, piling it all up. The clouds 
and the winds get up and stop in the west, whence the 
rain spreads over this poor earth. When shall we see 
this again?" The speech was briefly answered at each 
mat, and from either side the friendship which they all 
felt for each other was emphasized. The singing was 
quite enjoyable and there was a pleasing atmosphere of 
antiquity about the proceedings. Finally, the chief arose 
to make a speech in which he warned every one to be- 
have properly while partaking of the wine which had 
been brewed in the houses. 

The official part of the festival now being over, people 
repaired to the houses, where the sahuaro wine flowed 
through the evening and night. Friends from the neigh- 
boring country added to the merriment. Both men and 
women become intoxicated on such occasions, and, for- 
merly, quarrels of long standing were settled at the feast 
according to the laws of the vendetta. Murder used to 
be of frequent occurrence, but, to prevent the possibility 
of quarrels ending in a fatal way, the chiefs of our time 
are wise enough to gather up beforehand all the knives, 
pistols, and rifles, returning them to the owners after the 
conclusion of the festival. 

It should be noted that in March, about the time 
of the equinox, a ceremony, accompanied by singing, is 
performed to insure a good sahuaro harvest. Seeds of 
the fruit are ground and put in a basket into which also 



UNUSUAL VIEW OF PHOTOGRAPHY 6i 

four sticks, taken from the dried plant, are placed, one 
at each cardinal point. Sitting around the basket, 
people spend a night singing, while the medicine-man 
makes prognostications for the coming harvest. The 
seeds are eaten by those present, and the four sticks are 
given to four persons who later, when the season comes 
around, leave them at the foot of a sahuaro. 

As soon as the Indians were rested enough after the 
celebrations that ended the festival, I had an interview 
with Chief Alvina, whom I found to be conscientious 
about the information he imparted, and in a charmingly 
sincere way not afraid of telling anything. His father, 
who had died two years before, had been chief before 
him. The Papagoes declined to tell anything about their 
beliefs and ancient customs, he said, but he could see no 
harm in letting strangers know about them. Unfortu- 
nately for me, his knowledge of those matters was not 
commensurate with his liberality. Furthermore, he al- 
ways told his people that there was no harm in being 
photographed. Their fear he could not comprehend. 
He had himself been photographed many times, and he 
never inquired as to what they were going to do with 
his photograph. 

It was a very exceptional stand he had taken; as a 
rule, the Papagoes have the greatest objection to the 
camera. They are not afraid of it, but are intensely 
annoyed at the photographer's efforts, because, in their 
opinion, part of themselves will be taken away and will 
always remain behind after death, causing much dis- 
turbance to the departed, who in that way will be, so 



62 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

to speak, only three-quarters complete In the other Hfe. 
Usually the people ran away from my kodak, and it 
was extremely difficult to photograph them unawares, as 
they are very keen and in a way scent the impending 
danger. A young, good-looking man, of whom I asked 
permission to take a quick photograph, surprised me by 
answering in the affirmative. He entered his house to 
get ready for the fray, saying to his wife, "I am going 
to have my picture taken. I am a man and I am not 
afraid of seeing myself after death.'* 

I kept the honest chief till late in the afternoon, when 
he was obliged to go to his sahuaro camp, near the south 
end of the Quijotoa Range. He offered to return the 
following day, but I thought it better to look him up 
later on. There was present at the interview a man 
who had acted as a singing shaman at the feast, Juanito 
by name. He owned a few head of cattle and some horses, 
and had been much with whites, hauling wood or doing 
similar work, but in spite of this he spoke no English 
and only a few Spanish words. It was he who in the 
excitement of the feast had waked me up in the middle 
of the night. Some twelve years ago Juanito had seen 
a Mexican make a drawing, and last year it had occurred 
to him to try his hand at this accomplishment, which 
had made a strong impression on him. Considering that 
this was his first and only effort with the pencil, the prod- 
uct was by no means discreditable. His brother posed 
for him on horseback for half an hour. In order that 
Juanito might get a clear conception of the subject he 
was going to draw. Strange to say, he did not draw 




'1 



\ ] 




Picture drawn by an untutored Papago 




Using the ancient hoe 



Mother with child in tkadle. Aktjin 



AN UNTUTORED ARTIST 63 

him then, but during the following three days he worked 
at the drawing from memory in his spare time, being 
mostly occupied in his field and with his cattle. After 
long deliberation, he finally consented to part with the 
picture which is shown on plate. The horse is painted 
with red ochre and the necktie is blue, the color having 
been bought in an American store. The artist was 
about fifty years old. 

Following a fairly good wagon road eastward through 
the Comobabi Mountains, I first halted at a rancheria 
called *' Badger's Well," where I found all the old people 
absent in the sahuaro fields. The younger generation, 
inclined toward the white man's ways, offered little of 
interest. They spent much of their time in laughter 
and animated talk at the well, where they watered their 
cattle and horses. I noticed a quail creeping stealthily 
to drink from the overflow of the water, a few yards 
from the well. Its thirst was quickly satisfied, when it 
retired to safety among the bushes. 

A man sold me a spur made from the cleft of a mez- 
quite bush. It has a very sharp point, which is most 
efficient, though cruel. Only one foot is thus provided. 
A negro came along, a rather strange appearance in this 
part of the country; he told of a silver mine four miles 
east of there that he and half a dozen of his race owned. 
It had been found by one of them who had been a 
prospector for eight years. 

There were many ants in my camp, so I was glad to 
pack up in the morning. A visit was first made to the 
burial place, which was of the usual unattractive de- 



64 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

scrlption, in this case almost hidden under huge piles of 
palo verde branches. A tiny enclosure of upright oco- 
tillo stems was pointed out to me as the modern ceme- 
tery, due to the teaching of the missionary. Bundles of 
clothing to be used by the deceased had been placed 
among the branches of trees near both cemeteries. 



CHAPTER V 

COMOBABI— AN ATTRACTIVE INDIAN FAMILY— MARIANITA— A 
HORNED LIZARD THAT SPURTS BLOOD THROUGH THE EYE— 
AN ABORIGINAL WAY OF RECORDING EVENTS— THE PAPAGO 
CALENDAR— HARVESTING SAHUARO— HOW TO KEEP COMFORT- 
ABLE IN GREAT HEAT— A VISIT TO CHIEF ALVINA 

Our next halting place was made at the rancheria of 
Comobabi, comprising a somewhat extensive area on a 
beautiful slope at the foot of the mountains. Most of 
the houses here, too, were temporarily abandoned on 
account of the sahuaro harvest. Early in the afternoon 
we drove up to a house which impressed us as being the 
most hospitable looking; the family were just seating 
themselves on the ground outside, to eat tortillas and 
beans, the husband standing near by with his horse 
saddled. They received us as if we had always known 
them, although Pablo had not met them before. We 
were Invited to share their food, and, as soon as they 
were made to understand that I wanted to buy all sorts 
of Indian things, they cheerfully produced whatever they 
had, I purchased two bags full of certain eatable seeds, 
which I had much desired to procure, also a meal basket 
made by the thirteen-year-old daughter, who had the 
sweet-sounding name of Marianita, although neither 
Spanish nor English was among the family accomplish- 
ments. 

65 



66 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

The lady of the house had in active use two of those 
peculiar burden baskets called k'lho, in which the women 
carry on their backs loads of wood, gourds, or pottery, 
as the case may be. It consists of an attractive looking 
net-work of mescal fibre, which has been produced from 
the leaves after they have been first boiled. The net is 
attached to a hoop which is fastened between four long 
poles of sahuaro ribs and is supported by a woven band 
of strips of zotol leaves that passes over the forehead. 
This contrivance is getting to be rare in the Papago coun- 
try, with the introduction of mules and horses, and the 
woman who owns one is with difficulty induced to sell it. 
She spends considerable time in its manufacture, and in 
an old-fashioned family like the present it is of very great 
usefulness in every-day life. The black twine was from 
her children's hair, which she cut once a year until they 
were about twelve years old. I expressed an ardent de- 
sire to buy one that was standing outside of the house 
against the wall, and, after having thought the matter 
over for a couple of hours, she decided to sell the most 
used one for five dollars, though she hated to do so; for 
an additional fifty cents she would mend the net-work 
and put in a new plaited band for the back and the head. 
The offer was promptly accepted. 

Pablo and I made a tour of the houses of the ran- 
cheria, some of them being three-quarters of a mile away. 
In two of them we found only old deaf women at home, 
the rest of the families being at the harvest of the savory 
cactus fruit. On our return, toward sunset, our Indian 
friend and little Marianita were busily engaged in wash- 



THE REAL INDIAN 67 

ing a large sleeping mat, plaited from zotol leaves in the 
usual manner, which I had also bought. Another, a 
smaller daughter, sat near by, while on the roof the third 
child, a boy of eight summers, was romping in a short 
shirt, throwing stones and looking picturesque against 
the blue sky and the mountains of Baboquivari. One's 
photographic propensities are sorely tried under such 
tempting circumstances. As we approached, the boy 
descended. Pablo, at my bidding, engaged the family 
in conversation and I tried to avoid observation while 
taking snapshots, for, if seen, that would have put a 
speedy end to the friendship so happily begun. 

This was an attractive family that carried one's 
thoughts back to the Indian of long ago. The mother 
seemed the incarnation of sterling qualities, well mean- 
ing, intelligent, and active. She had quite an eye to 
business, but she asked fair prices. She looked about 
fifty, the picture of health, and had borne thirteen chil- 
dren, nine of whom were alive; many of these were 
full-grown and the youngest was six years old. Her 
husband, who was as friendly as his wife, or even more 
so, had a peculiar name, Piukvaotam, "He cannot be 
eaten" (because bitter to the taste). This probably ex- 
presses some characteristic of antipathy which I failed 
to discover, the Indians being extremely critical in their 
application of names. 

It was the loth of July; for several days the maxi- 
mum temperature had remained at about 100° F. A 
moist wind, somewhat cooler, had been blowing too 
gently for real comfort, but that day about sunset the 



68 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

air currents changed and became dry. In the evening 
the temperature felt just right, about 85° F., and the air, 
at an elevation of four thousand feet, had the superb 
quality of the desert. 

I had selected my camp a couple of hundred yards 
from the house, on a sandy, level ground among small 
mezquite trees and choyas. The sandy surface was as 
clean as if man had never walked over it; the Indians 
on their way to and from the distant well at the foot of 
the mountains all followed the same track, and there 
were no waste paper and tin cans strewn about to im- 
pair the full enjoyment of nature, as would have been the 
case near civilized man's abodes. 

The attractive camp, the nice family we had met, 
the addition to my collections, the peace and quiet of 
the place made me feel happy as I stretched myself on 
my cot under the starlit sky, which seemed so blue and 
cool and near. A soft breeze from the west fanned me 
to sleep, while a mocking-bird kept on singing its most 
delightful notes in the dark night. Ye dwellers in cities 
know not what it is to feel your freedom! 

Next morning, shortly after sunrise, I strolled over 
to the house to see what my Indian friends were doing. 
The mother was busy at work repairing the burden bas- 
ket she had sold me. She was just finishing a new band 
for the back, which is plaited in the same manner as the 
sleeping mat and from the same material. Some Indi- 
ans rode up offering for sale a most interesting wooden 
object that resembled a broadsword, and which may be 
termed a hoe, made of the heavy iron-wood and accord- 



AN ANCIENT HOE 69 

ingly very strong. This implement, which is called kiik, 
the same word as that for plough, had, according to my 
informants, been found in a mound in Santa Rosa valley. 
It is extremely rare, though I later succeeded in securing, 
mainly in the rancherias of Santa Rosa and Anekam, 
ten specimens more which were kept in the houses of the 
Indians. It is not quite appropriate to call this imple- 
ment a hoe, as it was employed solely for the purpose of 
weeding. Although I did not see it in active use, people 
in that section of the country know it very well. Prob- 
ably it is occasionally still resorted to. The showers, 
which in that hot climate make plants grow very fast, 
bring forth in luxuriance weeds that, unless twice re- 
moved, would choke the crops. For the more recent 
innovation of wheat agriculture during the winter, one 
weeding is sufficient. 

When in use the wooden hoe is held by both hands 
in a more or less horizontal position, the left hand around 
the handle, the right on the blade, while the bearer 
crawls on his knees and cuts in between the weeds, loos- 
ening the roots and turning them up. I found a simpler 
form of the same implement, smaller in size and consist- 
ing of a flat, oblong piece of wood with edge sharpened 
in a similar way, which was said to have been for the use 
of women. 

On returning with milk which he had bought from 
the friendly family, Pablo told me that Marianita, the 
young girl, had gone to the well for water, a mile away, 
and that I might have a chance to take a snapshot of 
her when she returned. After a while she appeared at a 



70 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

distance with a big tin bucket on her head, but how much 
more beautiful my small Rebecca would have looked 
carrying an earthen-ware jar of native workmanship. 
There are lots of pottery vessels still manufactured by 
the Papagoes, but the white man's implements are rec- 
ognized to be more practical. I suppose the change is 
unavoidable, but the bucket was distinctly disappoint- 
ing to my photographic sense. Before she approached 
my vantage point, an Indian met her who evidently asked 
for a drink, for he lifted the heavy bucket down, drank, 
and put it on her head again. When I gave her some 
candy after the short and unexpected ordeal, she looked 
frightened. She stepped along quickly, showing some- 
what that she felt the weight that she had been carrying 
for fifteen minutes. This was six o'clock in the morn- 
ing and, on rising, she had first helped her mother milk 
the cows. 

Half an hour afterward she again passed my camp; 
this time she was bound for the sahuaro fields along the 
base of the mountains. The girl of thirteen years walked 
fast, carrying over one shoulder the long stick with 
which the fruit is brought down. Two hours later she 
returned with a small bucket full of the juicy fruit, on 
which a newly arrived guest and the rest of the family 
gorged themselves, while she sat near by resting. She 
did not look tired, however, and I saw her later helping 
her mother make wheat biscuits, baking them in an oven 
adopted from the Mexicans. 

It was a great pleasure to be with these natural people. 
I sang to them my newly acquired Papago song, "The 



REMARKABLE HABIT OF A LIZARD 71 

Frog Doctor," one that is used at the sahuaro festival, 
and ingratiated myself in their favor. The mother, al- 
ways busy in doing something about the house, was en- 
gagingly free and easy in her manner. I ventured to ask 
if I might not photograph her; she looked disturbed, but 
after a while consented if I would promise not to show 
her picture in Tucson. She had the burden basket on 
her head, appropriately enough for a woman of energy 
and activity, but her whole being had suddenly changed, 
and it was impossible to make her walk and look natural. 
Her face was flushed, she looked embarrassed, and made 
a poor picture. 

In spite of presents to the children, they all stead- 
fastly declined to be photographed. However, sitting 
down to catalogue my lately acquired ethnological ob- 
jects in the shade of a jacal, I found opportunities for 
snapshots while pretending to write. When Pablo took 
the horses and my dog to the well, I hugely enjoyed a 
rub down from my wash basin, as well as a change of 
clothing, and soon we were off again on the road. 

At this rancheria I had a curious experience in the 
morning with a horned lizard {phrynosoma), rather dark 
in color, which my terrier pursued for eight or ten yards, 
when it flattened itself out and refused to run any more. 
The dog was watching for it to move and I stepped up. 
When put on its back it would immediately turn over; 
stooping down, I tried in vain to tease it to run again, 
but it remained immobile. I was just about to rise and 
leave when, to my great surprise, a spray of what appeared 
to be blood was dashed on my right hand, which was 



72 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

from eight to ten inches, not less than eight, distant from 
the animal. I did not notice whence the fluid came, but 
I observed that its left eye was bloody; in other ways it 
seemed normal, and had evidently not been maltreated by 
the dog, which feared its spines. On my return to civili- 
zation I find that the singular habit of ejecting blood 
from the eyes, peculiar to this animal, is known to the 
ranchmen of the region of its habitat, both Mexican and 
American, and that it also has been brought to the atten- 
tion of men of science. It has been suggested that the 
habit is practised only during the time of the shedding of 
the skin. 

The night spent at the next rancheria in the Babo- 
quivari Range was disturbed by the constant, melancholy, 
low howling of a dog mourning the absence of the family. 
He was a very old dog, a black and white cur, with an 
honest-looking face. Usually Indian dogs have little 
reason for loving their masters, who show them small 
consideration. After having visited a new Indian settle- 
ment called San Pedro, in the Roskruge Range, where 
there is excellent water in a well twenty-six feet deep, we 
continued our trip for six miles northward along the 
western foot-hills. There are extensive sahuaro forests 
in this undulating country, which were unusually pict- 
uresque in the afternoon sun. We came across one or 
two camps of Indians who were gathering the much- 
relished fruit. 

At dusk we met two young men on horseback return- 
ing from a shooting expedition, who presented us with 
half a deer tenderloin and some ribs. My aim was to 




Palo verde, near a Papago cemetery 

Among its branches bundles of clothing for the departed 





The medicine-lodge at Santa Rosa 



AN OLD MAN'S NOTES 73 

reach the camp of the man who possessed the calendar 
record of which the Indians had told me. It grew pitch 
dark before our day's journey was over, a large blazing 
fire, which enlightened us as to the position of the 
camp, guiding us from some distance. Our arrival 
naturally caused surprise, but was easily explained, and 
the man promised to show his calendar stick the next 
morning. 

This calendar, which, as far as I know, is the only 
one existing in the tribe, is an attempt at keeping a 
record of events by various marks on a wooden stick. 
Made from pine board, it is seventy-nine inches in length 
and one and one-quarter inches broad at the middle, 
narrowing toward the ends, and about an inch thick at 
the centre, which is the thickest. 

The old man, when fifteen years of age, had taken it 
into his head to begin a record of the events of his life, 
giving to each year a space of about an inch on the 
stick, separating one year from another by a transverse 
notch. He thus made one notch for each year that 
passed, and their number had now reached sixty-seven. 
The events of the year are depicted by crosses, dots, 
lines in various positions, as zigzags, angles, parallels, 
etc., and, as they have significance and meaning only to 
him, are less interesting from the point of view of the 
markings than from the events recorded. More than one 
kind of mark is rarely applied for each year. As the 
record of happenings that appeared to him important, 
accompanied by his own explanations, may be of inter- 
est, I shall give here the principal ones: 



74 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

In 1849: Unusual snowfall, killing men and beasts. 

In 1850: Successful attacks by the Apaches on the Maricopa at 
Red Rock, as well as on the Papago near Magdalena, 
Sonera. 

In 1851: Severe disease, called "black vomit," appeared. Its symp- 
toms were painful fits and cramps. Dark-colored blood 
would flow from the mouth. When the sufferer vomited, 
it was a sign of relief. Many Indians died, including some 
medicine-men. (This may have been yellow fever.) 

In 1852 and 1853: Papagoes repelled attacks by the Apaches in 
Arizona. 

In 1854: Papagoes fought with the Apaches at Santa Ana, Sonora. 

In 1855 and 1856: Death of relatives. 

In 1857: American soldiers were killed by Mexicans at Caborca. 
(This alludes to the defeat of the filibusters under Captain 
Crabbe.) 

In 1858: Birth of a girl relative. She afterward became makai (medi- 
cine-man.) 

In 1859: The Papagoes in the winter went to dance with the Pimas, 
below Sacaton, in order to secure wheat. (It was also the 
custom for the Pima to help at the feasts of the Papago, 
the reward being in either case grain or domestic animals.) 

In i860: Prominent chief died. 

In 1 861: Papagoes in Mexico engaged the Apaches and were victori- 
ous. The booty, consisting of shields, bows, and arrows, 
was sold to the Mexicans for mescal brandy and maize. 

In 1862: A fight with the Apaches in Mexico. 

In 1863: His first marriage took place. 

In 1864: His first child was born. 

In 1865: Apaches captured one Papago, who later escaped. 

In 1871: Apaches made peace with the whites at Arivaipa. 

In 1874: Apaches attacked San Xavier. 

In 1875: Ball games with foot-racing at Caborca, Sonora. He won in 
betting, one horse, saddle, and bridle. 

In 1876: Disease, accompanied by the loss of hair. Many died. (Per- 
haps this was typhoid fever.) 

In 1880: The railroad arrived at Tucson. 



A RECORD OF EVENTS 75 

In 1881: A relative became crazy, killed his wife with a knife, and 
then himself. 

In 1882: First fiesta in Mexican fashion took place at a rancheria 
which formerly existed where at present the Indian Oasis 
is. (This means that the Indians of Arizona began to 
adopt the social gathering in use among the Mexicans, 
without imparting any religious importance to the festival. 
A fiesta among Mexicans always includes dancing, which, 
in our time, has been adopted by the Papagoes of Sonora, 
but generally not in Arizona. On the occasion related, the 
people danced one by one in a circle.) 

In 1885: A visit to a Pima feast. Many singers went, and many 
others, all well dressed. 

In 1887: An earthquake in the "flowers disappear" moon. 

In 1889: The Pima took part in a dance in order to secure cattle. 
This was in the "dry grass" moon. 

In 1890: A feast at San Xavier in the "dry grass moon." 

In 1891: San Xavier Indians came to dance at Kvitatk (near the 
"Pump-house" near Horseshoe). 

In 1893: A foot-race at Kvitatk in "inner bone" moon (winter). The 
racers starting in the middle of the day, ran as far as 
Santa Rosa, returning at dark (about 8 p.m.). 

In 1897: Foot-races at Aktjin. 

In 1898: Two nephews put in prison in Yuma for smuggling mescal 
brandy. 

In 1899: Two relatives imprisoned in Tucson for stealing cattle. 

In 190 1 : He was isolated at Tucson on account of small-pox in the 
family. 

In 1902 : A foot-race at Tjeavolitak. 

In 1903: A foot-race at Kvitatk. 

In 1904: The purification of girls in the winter. 

In 1907 : His friends put in jail for fighting at a sahuaro feast at Kvitatk. 

In 1908: Many Papagoes that were attending the fiesta of San Fran- 
cisco in Magdalena, Sonora, were imprisoned for resisting 
the Mexican authorities when being pressed into military 
service to fight the Yaqui. A chief from San Xavier went 
down to Magdalena and helped them to get out. 



76 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

During recent years he has been blind, but a friend 
and his wife have assisted him in placing marks accord- 
ing to his directions. The event of this ensuing year 
would be the visit of "Carlos" to his sahuaro camp, he 
said. I append here the Papago calendar which divides 
the year into thirteen "moons," or marsat in the native 
language. 

THE PAPAGO CALENDAR 

1. Tonjapik Marsat, Hot Moon {tonj, hot). 

2. Tjoklaplk Marsat, Rainy Moon. 

3. Shopol Usapik Marsat, Short Planting Moon. 

4. Varsa Kakitak Marsat, Dry Grass Moon (kakitak, dry), 

5. Vihamik Marsat, Touches Mildly Moon. (The cold touches 

mildly.) 

6. Jomali Suipitik Marsat, Low Cold Moon (jomali, low). 

7. Uta Vaokat Marsat, Inner Bone Moon. (The middle of the 

winter.) It is also called Ku Suipitik, Big Cold. 

8. Ovahk Marsat, In Heat Moon. (When the animals are in heat.) 

9. Kihotak Marsat (untranslatable). Meaning: When the ani- 

mals have lost their fat. 

10. Komaki Marsat, Gray Moon (komak, gray). (When the trees 

are without leaves.) 

11. Tjuutaki Marsat, Green Moon (stjuutak, light blue or light 

green). 

12. Oam Marsat, Yellow Moon (usually suvdni, yellow). (Yellow 

flowers on trees, bushes, and plants, such as the palo verde, 
the greasewood, century plants and cacti.) 

13. Hikokiapik Marsat, Flowers Disappear Moon. (Plants begin 

to make fruit.) 

The old man was amply rewarded for his interview 
and consented to be photographed, though his wife, with 
the usual Papago ignorance of money value, prevented 



A SAHUARO CAMP 



11 



me from finishing the operation by telling him to ask 
eight additional dollars for his consent. 

. Their camp consisted simply of a roof of branches 
resting on four poles, sufficient to provide some shade 
during the day. Early in the morning all the female 
members of the household could be seen proceeding on 
their fruit-gathering expedition, each armed with a large 
basket and the usual pole, about twenty feet long and 
made from two pieces of sahuaro rib. At the top of the 
pole, as well as lower down, there is a kind of hook 
made by tying crosswise in these two places a small 
piece of greasewood by the aid of which the spiny fruit 
is broken off. Two or three hours later they returned, 
each carrying on her head her share of a heavy har- 
vest. The skin with its spines had been removed in 
the field, so the inside of the huge water-tight basket 
presented an appetizing mass of crimson fruit pulp, as 
well as a great amount of similarly colored juice, which 
would keep for a few hours only. Most of the contents 
of the baskets was immediately emptied into large jars, 
to be boiled for about two hours, when the mass is 
strained in order to separate the numerous small black 
seeds. The juice is boiled for hours longer until it be- 
comes sirup {sitoli)^ which is kept for future use in small 
earthen-ware jars, each neatly sealed with a piece of 
broken pottery and sticky mud. Being pleasant to the 
taste and much superior to molasses, I found this sirup 
excellent as part of my provisions. I also relished the 
fresh juice of the fruit when brought in cool in the 
morning. 



78 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

I had taken my notes in a temperature of 107° F. in 
the shade of the jacal; at dawn that day the temperature 
had been 74° F. and I actually awoke from feehng cold. 
During the previous five days the maximum temperature 
had been above 100° F., and the heat still continued as 
high for three days more. No clouds had appeared for 
several evenings and the rains were delayed. It cer- 
tainly felt warm as we travelled along on our return 
journey to San Pedro. No shade, as that word is under- 
stood in other climes, is found anywhere; the palo verde 
is seldom very serviceable for this purpose, and the best 
tree for shade is the mezquite, but on such days as these 
the fierce rays of the sun easily penetrate its somewhat 
scanty foliage, even the ground underneath the tree be- 
coming heated. It was difficult to make the air circu- 
late under our wagon cover, and we found ourselves in a 
heat as great as that of a Turkish bath. Still it is good 
policy to make the most of every favoring circumstance, 
so we always stopped for lunch near some mezquite tree, 
built a fire by which we made coffee, and had some 
canned goods and puffed wheat with evaporated milk to 
eat. The coffee especially, when made well, was very 
acceptable. After that we continued our journey greatly 
refreshed and actually cooler. My dog, however, did not 
know what to do with himself, refusing steadfastly to 
eat during the day; his favorite place was in the wagon, 
under the seat, on top of a box. 

On July 15 the oppressive heat was lessened toward 
evening by a violent storm from the south-east, which 
darkened the atmosphere first with dust, then an hour 



A LARGE SUMMER RANCHERIA 79 

later with welcome black clouds which poured down 
considerable rain. The storm passed from Indian Oasis 
over Tucson, where, as I later learned, it damaged the 
roof of the new hotel. Some more rain the following 
evening and night made the outlook bright for continued 
travel. We were soon on the road again westward bound 
for Chief Alvina's sahuaro camp. After the somewhat 
vague indication as to its location being near the southern 
part of the Quijotoa Range, we had been left to our own 
instincts of orientation to find it. 

On arriving at the so-called "Pump-house," near the 
Quijotoa Range, I made a detour of thirteen miles south- 
ward to the great summer rancheria Kuoitak (Big Field), 
in order to make sure that the recent showers had not 
already induced the chief to leave his sahuaro harvest 
for agricultural pursuits. It was surprising to find such 
a large cultivated area in the wilderness. It was over 
two miles long, from east to west, and a half mile wide, 
consisting, of course, of many small adjoining farms, all 
fenced in by loosely made mezquite fences. The late 
showers had certainly been effectual in bringing about 
changes. Pools of water enlivened the landscape here 
and there, and even some grass had begun to appear, 
scarcely forty-eight hours after the rain. Birds were 
singing in a lively manner, and there was spring in the 
air, but evidently the Indians did not consider the rain 
of sufficient quantity to justify them in beginning their 
ploughing. In July or August, as soon as they are as- 
sured of the soil being well soaked, they immediately 
repair to their summer rancherias. So far, only one 



8o NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

family had arrived, so we continued our journey toward 
the southern end of the Quijotoa Range. 

In the evening mosquitoes and other insects gathered 
around the lantern and small brown beetles crawled in- 
side of my trousers or through my hair, reminding me of 
tropical climates. Next morning, before starting, I had 
a refreshing bath in a small water-hole, while a butcher- 
bird {lanius) in a near-by bush sang with all his might, 
apparently enjoying the changed conditions as much as 
myself. This bird was often seen in the desert, often 
far from water. Although the thermometer registered as 
high as 92° F. in the warmest part of the day, still the 
atmosphere, refreshed by the storms, felt remarkably 
cool, and the weather was cloudy. 

The southern part of the somewhat extensive Qui- 
jotoa Range, separated from the rest, is called by the 
Papago, Kihotoak {kiho, burden basket; toak, moun- 
tain), said to be derived from its shape. The Spanish 
name of the whole range is a corruption of this native 
name. I was glad to fin ' Chief Alvina in his camp, 
which was in close proximity to great forests of sahuaro 
on the slopes along the eastern base of the mountains. 
He brought me as a welcome some pitahaya fruit which 
tasted remarkably well. All the rest of the fruit gatherers 
had already left, for the sahuaro season was over, though 
there were still to be found pitahayas, the other savory 
cactus fruit of the region. There was no pasture; our 
horses fed on rolled oats, besides relishing the leaves of 
the palo fierro (iron-wood) tree. 

The chief was perfectly willing to be interviewed for 



DRENCHED IN THE DESERT 8i 

hours. He thought the number of the Papagoes was 
decreasing. Few old men were seen any more. The 
food which is gradually supplanting their native dishes 
is injurious to the health of the Papago. Children were 
no longer obedient. The young men nowadays are 
seized with restlessness and want to leave for other parts 
of the country; nobody takes care of them, and they die 
early, he complained. We took a walk together, and he 
pointed out to me the ripe nuts of the jojoba, a bush of 
common occurrence in that country. They are eaten by 
the Indians and have rather a pleasant flavor. As they 
contain a great deal of oil, they might compete with pea- 
nuts in the oil industry of the world, were it not for the 
slow growth of the bush. Mr. M. G. Levy, mine-owner 
and store-keeper in Ajo, thinks that they will prove of 
importance as cattle food and that they should be culti- 
vated. Among the frontier population the oil has great 
reputation as a hair restorer. 

On two afternoons we had quite heavy showers, and 
I felt some regret at having disposed of my large, though 
inconvenient tent at Indian Oasis, taking with me only 
the fly. Pablo and I were drenched and so were our 
blankets. It would have been difficult to make a fire 
but for the presence of the small resinous bush called 
iovosOf which burned lustily in spite of being dripping 
wet. We tore the bushes up entire and kept up a bon- 
fire by which we dried ourselves and cooked our food. I 
began to wonder whether this could truthfully be called 
a desert. 



CHAPTER VI 

HORSESHOE IN THE QUIJOTOA RANGE— INDIANS AS MINERS 
—SPENDING A NIGHT UNDER DIFFICULTIES— DELIGHTFUL 
NATIVES— A WOMAN'S GAME— SANTA ROSA RANCHERIA— THE 
GREAT HARVEST FEAST OF SANTA ROSA 

After an affectionate leave-taking from good Chief 
Alvina, we departed northward for Horseshoe, eating, as 
we travelled along, delicious pitahayas with which we 
had provided ourselves. Eight miles before arriving at 
our destination we passed on the llano the pump-house 
that had once been placed over a deep well, which, ac- 
cording to trustworthy information, is five hundred and 
twenty feet deep. It has an abundance of water from an 
undercurrent and was once the pulse of a short-lived, 
though intense, mining activity. If the information that 
reached me is correct, the discovery of a bonanza silver 
mine of very rich ore started a boom here nearly twenty 
years ago. Several thousand people gathered, the usual 
fabulous prices were paid for corner lots, and telegraph 
and telephone lines were established with Tucson. To- 
day the silence of death reigns here; the roads have been 
obliterated, the houses have disappeared, as also have 
the telegraph poles, and there is no sign of any former 
activity. I should have felt inclined to consider the whole 
thing a fable but for the unattractive remains of the 

pump-house, which the Indians have annexed, building a 

82 



PAPAGO PLACER MINING 83 

few houses near it and naming their rancheria from the 
tall chimney. Five miles north is a rancheria called 
Sikulhimat ("where the water goes around." Sikul, 
round). Here, according to the Indians, the drainage 
of rain water flows toward the Gila River; south of that 
place it flows toward Mexico. 

Horseshoe is the name of a once noted placer mine, 
the surface of which has been worked out. There are 
gold mines of a similar nature around the southern end 
of the Quijotoa Range. Judge Day has a store at Horse- 
shoe and buys gold from the Indians, who still, during 
the winter, keep up the "dry-washing" process here, 
using for the purpose the machines that are common to 
the neighboring district of Altar, in Sonora. The Indians 
are even able to make the machines themselves. Judge 
Day is a man of intelligence and much common-sense, 
and, having lived here since 1893, was able to give re- 
liable information about matters pertaining to the region. 
According to him the padres from San Xavier Mission, 
two hundred years ago, found the placer mines of Qui- 
jotoa. He showed me some nice nuggets of small sizes 
which he had lately bought. Five years ago the Ind- 
ians found free gold in a piece of quartz which was 
worth one thousand six hundred dollars. After that 
eighty Papago and a few Yaqui Indians worked here for 
half a year, taking out in value between ten thousand 
and twelve thousand dollars. Judge Day buying most 
of the gold. The relations between the miners — all 
Indians— were cordial. When any of them had found 
a rich spot, he would tell it to the others, and next morn- 



84 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

ing the crowd would begin to work as near him as pos- 
sible. No ill feeling or fights ensued; they would each 
earn from four to five dollars a day. The miners when 
coming home would always wash after changing their 
clothes. Considering the trouble of getting water at the 
only well, their cleanliness may be considered an example 
even to whites. The women are particularly cleanly, 
and wash their own clothes frequently as well as those 
of their husbands. 

Judge Day and his family, who have been living 
here among the Indians for so long a time, gave very 
good reports of their neighbors. He had spent twenty- 
two years among Indians, and considered the Papago the 
safest. ''As a rule, they are honest," he said, ''though 
there are scalawags among them, but these are discred- 
ited by their own race. The women will steal trifles, 
picking up a rope or the like, but the men will sel- 
dom do that. The store often gives an Indian twenty 
dollars on credit, and he will apologize if he does not 
pay in ninety days. These Indians, like the Mexicans, 
are pleased to be in debt, because they consider it an 
honor to be trusted. If the average native says he will 
pay his debt, he will do so." 

Like all Indians, the Papagoes are kind to their 
children, the father no less than the mother. An Ind- 
ian couple were purchasing some articles in the store 
while I was present; their strong and fat infant was 
crying continuously in its mother's arms, she trying 
vainly to stop its wails. Finally, I saw her, with a few 
words, hand the babe to her husband, a boyish, good- 



THE BENEFIT OF EXERCISE 85 

looking man and apparently younger than herself. He 
took the howling nuisance gently and walked resolutely 
off into the hot sun. I wondered what was going to 
happen. He went straight to the well, gave the fretful 
youngster a bath, and returned in a few minutes with his 
purpose accomplished. 

It may be of interest to note the manner in which the 
daughter of the American family at Horseshoe, who 
when twelve or thirteen years old was in poor health, 
grevy^ to be strong and well. Being brought up with the 
Indians, whose language she speaks, she taught herself 
the accomplishment of every Indian girl, to carry a water- 
jar on her head. This made her healthy, and now she 
weighs one hundred and fifty pounds. 

To the north of here, only about six miles, travel- 
ling by the track, is an important rancheria, Tjiuvak 
("Where Something Decayed"), lying among low hills 
in the Quijotoa Range, where a road passes from east 
to west. I was desirous of seeing the best-known 
basket-maker who lives here, but she, like the rest, had 
just left for the summer ranch. The place looked much 
like a village, but was temporarily abandoned on account 
of the season, so we continued our journey northward 
by an excellent road that had been furnished mainly 
by nature. It was a slightly downhill drive, the coun- 
try now almost imperceptibly sloping toward the Gila 
River. 

We arrived late at a summer rancheria with the some- 
what disconcerting native name, "Dead Old Man's 
Well." Here we expected to find the people of the win- 



86 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

ter habitations we had just left behind. The night was 
pitch-dark with overhanging nimbus clouds, and thunder, 
more or less distant, was heard all around us. The air 
felt sultry and quite a strong wind had begun to blow, 
as if warning us of an advancing storm. Big fires were 
burning outside of the houses, which looked hospitable 
enough. But this was a night which one would not 
exactly like to pass out-of-doors, so I asked Pablo to 
hurry in and see if he could not secure a house in which 
we might have sleeping quarters. As good luck would 
have it, a friend of ours whose acquaintance we had made 
at the feast of Noria was here. He had come from the 
Comobabi Mountains to cultivate the fields with the rest, 
and he helped us to obtain lodgings for the night. A 
small storehouse was placed at our disposal, and as we 
drove up in the wagon some girls were busily carrying 
things out in order to give us more space inside. 

It was a tiny shed, built of upright mezquite poles 
calked and plastered inside and outside with mud. The 
roof, which was made of sahuaro ribs and greasewood 
branches, with a cover of earth on top, was water-proof, 
all care having been taken to make it secure against the 
rain, for here the provisions of the family, their house- 
hold goods, clothes, and other earthly possessions were 
stored. Air had access only through the door-opening, 
which was exactly one and a half feet wide. Owing to 
an all-day's summer sun the storehouse was extremely 
hot, and as I entered my lodging the temperature was 
so oppressive that it was almost stifling; still, as the wind 
was blowing with increased force and lightning at more 



A NIGHT IN A STOREHOUSE 87 

frequent Intervals lit up the darkness outside, the little 
house offered protection for the night, and gave a feeling 
of comfort such as our savage ancestors must have felt 
when resorting to a cave just in time to escape a drench- 
ing. Big jars, gourds, sacks containing maize, wheat, 
sahuaro seeds, and other edible wild seeds were lying 
about in the corners. There was not much space left, 
but by adjusting things our baggage was safely stored 
and we had our frugal supper while the rain poured down. 

Pablo went to arrange for his bedding with the Ind- 
ians, while I managed to place my cot backward from 
the door-opening, filling up all the space left. Near my 
head. In a box In a corner, a hen with small chickens 
was sitting. She had a curious way of poking her beak 
against the box two or three times a minute, almost with 
the regularity of clock-work. It was as If the habit of 
using her beak to help feed her large family had grown 
on her to such an extent that she continued doing It 
automatically through the night. To listen to this be- 
came a nuisance, but I was too tired to allow it to inter- 
fere with my sleep. After a while I awoke from the 
Intolerable heat, bathed in perspiration. I undid my 
bed to push It through the narrow opening, and leaving 
the hen to continue her pecking, put my cot outside 
where the rain had ceased. The air felt cool and fresh 
now, and at dawn even a feeling of chilliness Interrupted 
my slumber, but I continued to sleep until after sunrise 
In spite of the cackling of fowls, the barking of dogs, 
and the Indians moving and talking all around me. 

It was Sunday morning, July 25, and I awoke well 



88 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

rested, though at an inconceivably late hour for that 
country, for the sun had been nearly half an hour above 
the horizon. The men had gone to plough the fields, but 
lots of women and girls and a few young men had gathered 
waiting for me to get up. They had brought many ob- 
jects, which they understood I wanted to buy. As soon 
as I opened my eyes two kinds of the medicine-man's 
rasping outfits, women's games, a splendid bull-roarer 
(see page 95), and other tempting things were presented 
for my approval. 

The attitude of the natives was an unlooked-for de- 
light. With the exception of the men who were unavoid- 
ably absent, the remainder of the four or five families 
that made up the rancheria seated themselves around 
me, showing much interest in my presence and eager to 
sell what they had brought. I distributed candy to 
every one, and much enthusiasm was evinced, the utmost 
good-will prevailing. Two elderly sisters, talkative and 
impulsive, were very intelligent in giving explanations of 
the articles offered for sale. One of them sat down on 
the ground and showed me how the medicine-man's rasp- 
ing-sticks were used, at the same time rendering the ap- 
propriate song. The other one, seizing a pair of wooden 
tweezers, which are used in pulling off certain edible 
cactus fruit, proceeded in a most graphic manner to de- 
monstrate how the spines are rubbed off by the same 
implement, whereupon the fruit is placed in a basket and 
taken home to be cooked. Her quiet pantomime, full of 
humor, made matters clear beyond doubt unto the small- 
est detail, without her uttering a single word. She would 




Q < 








DOUBLE BALL GAME WITH STICK 89 

have done credit to any stage. It was a busy morn- 
ing, and when the crowd saw us getting ready to eat our 
belated breakfast, they considerately said, "Let us retire 
that they may eat." Pablo and I seated ourselves near 
the fire, and it was a small matter that the rice had been 
burned during the activities of the morning. 

After a while, we had them all back again. The 
implements used in a woman's game were offered for 
sale. They comprised a small object, consisting of two 
short, thick sticks from the cat-claw tree, linked together 
in the middle by a twisted leather string. This 6la, as 
they call it, has to be thrown with a thin pole, slightly 
curved at the point, and the movement must be made by 
applying the point between the two connecting sticks 
and then casting it upward. The game consists in 
throwing the object so as to reach a certain goal, the 
opposing party trying to prevent it. At my request, the 
woman with the imitative gift induced four young girls 
to show me how the game was played, and they immedi- 
ately prepared for the fray. The colored bandannas were 
disengaged from around the head and tied around the 
hips. The uncovering disclosed beautiful black hair, 
well-groomed a la mexicaine, parted in the middle, and 
hanging in two generous braids down the back. The 
next minute they all spat in their hands and smoothed 
their hair, then the game started. The girls played 
two against two. The 61a was first thrown up in the 
air, the players standing ready opposite each other. The 
tactics of the opponents was to run with their backs 
turned against the others and strike the disputed ob- 



90 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

ject with their poles. Each game was played with much 
agility and lasted only a few minutes, the participants 
keenly enjoying the sport. Formerly as many as twenty 
women on each side took part in this game. 

I ventured to take snapshots and, strange to relate, it 
was not resented. A boy showed me how to swing a 
bull-roarer, and we all had a good time. Though the 
wearing apparel of these people and most of their uten- 
sils came from the white man's store, still, neither Eng- 
lish nor Spanish was spoken, only Papago. They be- 
haved something like natives who have not been much 
in contact with whites, and these *'poor heathen" were 
the nicest Papagoes I met on my whole expedition. The 
entertaining crowd would sometimes retire as one man, 
then after a while they would return again; they were 
curious without being troublesome. One of the humor- 
ous sisters told me that in the rancheria of Santa Rosa, 
which was my next goal, there was much to be seen 
that would interest me, if I made friends with the prin- 
cipal men. She also had a house there, she said, which 
was at our disposal, and she gave us directions as to 
how to find it, for Santa Rosa was a big place. 

It is, in fact, the largest summer rancheria in the 
Papago tribe, and people from several clusters of win- 
ter habitations gather here to the number of about five 
hundred. The houses are scattered over an area of 
nearly two miles square. Its native name is Kuatshi 
(Big Peak). I entered this old-fashioned rancheria with 
much expectancy of gaining further knowledge of the 
beliefs and customs of these people. Water from the 



ARRIVAL AT SANTA ROSA 91 

recently fallen rain was standing in pools here and there 
in the rough road. Inside of the rude mezquite fences 
a surprisingly large amount of weeds was flourishing, 
and beautifully green. In the midst of this mass of verd- 
ure the Indians were busy ploughing and sowing, the 
weeding being done later. Here and there a rain-storm 
might be seen at a distance, in the north, east, and south, 
but the atmosphere as a whole was clear, and everything 
looked beautiful in the late afternoon sun. 

After some parleying and searching and travelling, 
we found our Juan, a tall, strong-looking Indian with 
a benign expression of countenance. Near this man's 
house was to be our promised lodgement. He pointed 
out to us a large, dome-shaped straw house, of old style, 
about a hundred yards away. Crawling in through the 
door-opening, which was not quite two feet high, I found 
the inside very spacious. Provisions were stored here, 
and a large granary basket gave me joy at the prospect 
of its possible acquisition. The room was clean and 
cool. Nevertheless, being unusually dependent upon fresh 
air, I feared this would be a very inconvenient abode for 
me, so I crawled out again and addressed myself to an 
old man who was occupied outside in digging up and 
destroying the passages of some pernicious red ants. 
On our arrival I had noticed him clearing away rubbish 
in front of an attractive little house near by made of 
upright poles so that the air had access everywhere. I 
proposed that he should rent me the little dwelling. 

He readily consented, asking me to state a price, and 
I suggested fifty cents a day, which was promptly ac- 



92 



NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 



cepted. He immediately commenced to move his things 
out so as to give space enough for my cot. The tiny 
house had a good roof of greasewood branches covered 
with earth. A few yards in front of the door-opening, 
toward the west, was the usual arrangement of a jacal 
that provided a grateful shade. The Indians had ar- 
rived here only the day before, and the old man had 
decorated the door-posts with fresh greasewood branches, 
which gave the modest habitation a festive and cheerful 
appearance. I felt comfortable in my new quarters, and 
prepared to stay here for several weeks. 

Among the friends I gradually made was one whose 
civilized name was Simon, who became of great service 
in helping me to get specimens and information from the 
Indians. He made a good beginning himself by selling 
me his clown's outfit, more or less complete, an unex- 
pected discovery in these days when advancing civiliza- 
tion is destroying all the sacred emblems, customs, and 
beliefs of the natives. These were implements used at 
the great harvest feast, vikita, which is given every four 
years at Santa Rosa. The name is derived from the 
word viikiy by which is designated the finest and small- 
est plumes of the vulture. Manifold preparations are 
made for the event, which comes ofi^ in the "inner bone" 
moon, about November or December, after the harvest- 
ing of corn, beans, pumpkins, and melons. The par- 
ticipants dress up and practise their parts in a large, 
open, square enclosure of brushwood fences, where 
afterward many ceremonial objects which were carried 
about during the festivities are left. I was told that 




Front Back 

The clown at the great feast of Santa Rosa 




My camp at Santa Rosa 



THE CLOWN 93 

sahuaro wine is not used during or after this great fes- 
tival. At Quitovac, in Sonora, an annual harvest feast, 
called by the same name, is given in August; this is 
accompanied by the drinking of sahuaro wine. 

As the name indicates, the clowns are the funny men 
of the occasion, and their apparel and weapons are in ac- 
cordance with their functions. Their bows are crooked 
mezquite roots with strings attached. Their ridiculous- 
looking arrows, four for each, are made from sahuaro 
ribs, with turkey feathers as the plumed part; like the 
hunter, the clown has two kinds, but his are out of pro- 
portion, three being thin and one very stout. His brace- 
let may be a piece of unborn deerskin wrapped around 
the wrist. The most striking part of the costume is 
the mask, which is made of canvas, like a hood that is 
drawn over the head; formerly perhaps basket work took 
the place, at least in parts, of the canvas. Small holes 
for the eyes have been pierced in it and the top is adorned 
with a large bunch of plumes from the turkey, hawk, 
and a black sea-bird. *' Horns" made of turkey plumes 
are attached to the sides, soft down from a hawk being 
tied to the top. The decorations on the facial part of 
the mask symbolize clouds. Under the clown's belt is 
tucked a wooden machete, and large strings of sea-shells 
run over the shoulders across the chest and back. He 
wears a huge tobacco-pouch and carries a sahuaro pole 
on which small greasewood sticks, tied at right angles, 
do duty as hooks. 

His bare arms, as well as his arrows, are decorated 
each with a spiral line made with chalk and encircling 



94 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

lengthwise, while his legs are daubed in spots, the color 
being afterward allowed to wear off. At the feast, the 
numerous clowns perform pranks everywhere; they visit 
the houses, offer food, and shoot at men disguised as 
deer. During the dancing they keep in the middle of 
the dancing place. They neither sing nor talk, though 
they may do so if requested. If a clown breathes on a 
sick man, the latter gets well. The mask when not used 
is kept in the house of the owner, usually in a covered 
earthen-ware jar. The dignity of the office, which does 
not imply the necessity of being a medicine-man, is con- 
fined to certain families, the father deciding which of 
his sons is to be the next clown. 

On the wall in my lodging-room there was hanging 
a different kind of mask, neatly made from a gourd, and 
painted. It is worn by a singer at the same great feast. 
I also secured this, and during the time spent at Santa 
Rosa valley I was fortunate enough to make quite a col- 
lection of such interesting objects. There are three sec- 
tions of colors on the singers' masks symbolizing clouds 
of similar hues. The upper part is painted with red 
ochre; then comes a black band which is produced by 
a mixture of sap from the mezquite and oxide of iron; 
the white band is made with chalk. The zigzags of the 
red section symbolize clouds, the dots are grains of corn. 
The designs on the white section denote clouds and light- 
ning. The singers (vitnim) have the same kind of rat- 
tles as the clowns, consisting of a number of the small 
bags spun by an insect {attacus orizaba), with a pebble 
inside of each, and attached to a band around the ankle. 



THE SINGER 95 

The band should be cut from the skin of a black 
dog, which is killed for the purpose in the practising 
enclosure. 

The singer has the upper body nude, his trousers 
being turned up as high as possible and his feet bare. 
He wears no head-dress, but attempts to appear neatly 
attired, tying around the loins a colored bandanna or 
perhaps a shawl borrowed from his wife. Around the 
waist, the neck, and the upper part of the arm bright- 
colored strips of cloth are tied. His body is smeared 
with red ochre on which are spots of white, symbolizing 
grains of corn. 

An important part of the singer's outfit is the bull- 
roarer, consisting of two flat pieces made of sahuaro 
rib, the smaller one being held by the hand when in 
use. The connecting string should be twine of native 
cotton, which still may be found in use. They are 
decorated with symbolic designs, such as those stand- 
ing for lightning, clouds, turtles, grains of corn, express- 
ing their desire for rain. The buzzing sound produced 
should be deep, in imitation of the thunder, which 
brings rain; if the sound is shrill, lightning only will 
follow. 

The bull-roarer is swung for the purpose of calling 
people together and as a sign that the meeting is over, 
both at the preliminary exercises in the practising en- 
closure as well as at the feast itself. These buzzing im- 
plements not only open and conclude the proceedings, 
but they are used on the way from the practising house 
to the feast early in the morning, also when the cloud 



96 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

symbols are carried about, and on similar occasions. 
When not in use, the implement is tucked under the belt 
at the back. After the festival it is put away not to be 
used until the next feast takes place. 

The singers are made up of the following four groups: 

1. The people of Santa Rosa rancheria. Sikulhimat, 
Aloitak, and Kvitatk join with them. 

2. The people of Kvivo rancheria. The San Xavier 
inhabitants join with these. 

3. The people of Anekam rancheria. 

4. The people of Aktjin rancheria. 

These four groups have different masks and at the 
head-quarters of each is a practising enclosure. 

This great harvest festival lasts from morning till sun- 
set. Ten days before the principal men begin the prep- 
arations, fasting at the same time and drinking water 
but once a day. Sometimes as many as fifty rancherias 
take part. Much noise is made in the evening before 
the feast is begun. Each group of rancherias sings dif- 
ferent songs, in its turn, and every fourth year new songs 
are produced. At the Quitovac meeting the same songs 
are used year after year. The singers also dance with 
ceremonial objects in their hands, their songs being suited 
to the emblem carried. 

Mr. Brownell, store-keeper and mine-owner at Brown- 
ell, in the Quijotoa Range, was present at the last festival 
given, which was in December, 1908. Though unable 
to give me any descriptive detail, he assured me that it 
was an unusual performance in its magnitude and bar- 
barous display of costume, paint, and ceremonials. A 












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THE PRACTISING ENCLOSURE 97 

few other Americans had been present, but nobody was 
allowed to make any notes. Permission to take photo- 
graphs would not be considered without a payment of 
six hundred dollars. It is doubtful whether a similar 
festival will ever take place again, for there are only 
one, or possibly two, old men left who know how to 
direct the complicated ceremonies. Formerly, the com- 
plaint was made to me, the young men used to be taught 
by the two old men, but at present nobody goes to them. 
If another festival does take place, it would be highly 
desirable for an ethnologist to be present. I visited the 
practising enclosure, which is from forty to fifty feet 
square. A great accumulation of ceremonial things was 
left here from preceding feasts, conspicuous among which 
were some large, triangular frames to which wads of 
cotton were attached, symbolizing clouds. Bright blue, 
wooden swallows, fastened to the tops of sticks, also at- 
tracted my attention. They are carried by certain per- 
formers. The enclosure is called a vaaki, as is also the 
medicine lodge and the house of the leader of the salt 
expeditions. 

I was successful enough to procure two more clown 
masks, the owners of both being medicine-men. One of 
them, who was too old to be a clown any longer, should 
have handed it over to his son or nephew, but he pre- 
ferred American dollars. I was further completing my 
collection with sets of the various articles that comprise 
the outfit, when my nefarious activities reached the ears 
of the principal men, who at once put a stop to any more 
purchases. "What are we coming to," cried the chief, 



98 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

*' selling these things? Are we not going to have any 
more feasts ? " There was some talk of having me re- 
turn what I had bought, but the storm of indignation 
gradually subsided. 



CHAPTER VII 

VISIT TO A VERY SACRED PLACE— THE CHILDREN'S SACRIFICE 
—A MEETING WITH AN IMPORTANT PERSONAGE— ANEKAM— 
PRIMITIVE NATIVES— I ARRIVE AMONG THE KOHATK PEOPLE 
—A WET NIGHT— RETURN TO SANTA ROSA 

All the while I had not forgotten what my talkative 
woman friend at the last stopping place had told me. 
"Get an old man to show you the children's cemetery," 
she said, "and you will see many things." As soon as I 
considered my acquaintance with Simon to be sufficiently 
well established, I asked him if he would not take me to 
the place where the children had been buried. "It 
would be well to get the chief's permission for that," 
he answered after some hesitation. Accordingly Pablo 
and I mounted our horses and, accompanied by Simon, 
also on horseback, started off with the prospect of an 
interesting afternoon's experience before us. The place 
was not far away, perhaps three miles off, but it was al- 
ready five o'clock and, as we first had to secure the per- 
mission, we hurried along. 

Simon is very quick in his movements and, there 
being no time to waste, we confidently followed in his 
wake. We arrived at the camp of one of the principal 
men, a leader of the annual salt expedition to the gulf, 
with whom on the previous day I had had a long inter- 
view. He was one of those old-fashioned, simple-minded, 

99 



loo NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

though Intelligent, barbarians who give the serious In- 
quirer clear, absolutely straightforward information, and 
I had no objection to hearing from his mouth some more 
about the ancient traditions of the Papago. He told us 
of a spring that once had threatened to flood not only 
the great valley of the Santa Rosa, but the whole Papago 
country. Four children, two boys and two girls, had 
to be put Into the fountain In order to stop the water 
from flooding. The sacrifice had availed and ever after- 
ward this had been a most sacred locality, of which the 
Papagoes took great care. He asked us what we wanted 
to do there. Being assured of our harmless intentions, 
and Simon being a great friend of his, he had no objec- 
tions to our proposed visit, and I paid him two dollars 
for the permission. 

Our next call would be, I expected, on the chief. 
Simon, on his quick-galted steed, rode ahead of us, and 
soon disappeared from view in the winding arroyo, which 
we entered. This arroyo led among the scattered ranches 
of Santa Rosa up to the base of the mountain range, where 
lay the object of our trip. On an easy grade we travelled 
quickly over the sand and gravel that the rains of pre- 
vious years had washed down from the mountains so 
as to fill the arroyo bed. On both sides grew thickets of 
desert willows, arrowbushes, and a peculiar light green 
bush with long, needle-like leaves, from which the 
Indians make prayer-sticks. We followed this beautiful 
arroyo for a couple of miles, and I was congratulating 
myself on getting away unobserved by the multitude. 
Pablo and I spurred our horses along and we gradually 



A SERIOUS ALTERCATION loi 

gained on our swift guide, who suddenly left our safe 
arroyo, now narrowing as we approached the base of the 
mountains. We passed a couple of hundred yards above 
the last houses of the rancheria and were making fast for 
our goal, when a man on a brown horse appeared, com- 
ing toward us at a furious gait, followed by a white colt. 
Just as we reached the main road he caught up with us. 
Although he preserved a calm demeanor, his eyes, when 
he halted us, betrayed excitement. It was the old fa- 
miliar case of Indians knowing in a mysterious way well- 
nigh everything that is going on, as if they had telephones 
and telegraphs. 

*' Where are you bound?" he asked. Simon looked 
scared when answering the question. 

"That place," the new-comer retorted, "belongs to 
many people, and one man alone cannot give the per- 
mission to visit it. I am the chief of this rancheria. 
Why did you not come to me ?" 

Simon evidently had committed a serious breach of 
etiquette by letting the matter rest with his friend, the 
director of the salt expeditions. He tried to explain his 
action as being due to the absence of the chief in the 
fields. For a man with so much initiative and such un- 
usual frankness, it seemed amazing that he should have 
made such a blunder. Judging from the way he re- 
peated over and over again his one line of defence, his 
case was a weak one. The chief evidently was right, and 
finally, turning his horse toward the rancheria and start- 
ing back, he said he did not want us to go to that place. 

This was more than I could endure, so I, with Pablo, 



102 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

rode after him, and began negotiations in my own way. 
He soon became more tractable. "The place is sacred," 
he said, ''and not everybody who comes along can see 
it." The Indians had gone to much trouble to keep up 
its proper appointments. He was going to bring this 
matter before the Big House, the lodge, that very even- 
ing, and the people would decide in the case. The pros- 
pect of vague and possibly endless delay was not exactly 
to my taste, so I proposed another way out of the diffi- 
culty, that of paying to him and to the other big man of 
the tribe, the Keeper of the Smoke, the same sum that 
I had already paid the first principal man. 

Gratified at seeing the negotiations happily concluded, 
I presented him with tobacco and candy, which he smil- 
ingly put into his trousers pockets. He said we could go 
to the cemetery that afternoon and next morning return 
to look it over more carefully. To my suggestion that it 
was too late in the day to continue the trip, he answered 
that the place was close by. He admonished us only to 
be careful not to disturb anything, and thus we separated 
all in a pleasant mood. The cemetery was nearer than 
I had expected; after having followed the road for ten 
minutes, Simon told us that we had arrived. The coun- 
try was now level and covered with greasewood bushes 
all around. We found ourselves at the beginning of a 
broad pass, through which the road from Santa Rosa 
leads westward to a mountain. 

We tied our horses and walked aside from the road 
some twenty yards, when my eyes caught sight of a cir- 
cular enclosure made from upright split ocotillo {fou- 



AN INTERESTING SHRINE 103 

quieria splendens) poles, from which the bark had been 
recently stripped. To the north and to the south was 
piled up at either side in a semicircle a very large heap 
of discarded poles, in orderly array, several thousands of 
them. I had expected to find a shrine of a more or less 
common type, so this was an agreeable surprise and 
worth some trouble. 

I stepped up to the sanctuary, which was about the 
height of a man and nineteen feet in diameter, with open 
gateways toward the four corners of the world. The 
row of ocotillo poles was placed two or three thick. In- 
side, in the middle, was a mound neatly made of slabs, 
six feet in diameter and two feet high; on top of it rested 
a large sea shell, seven inches long, of a light rose color, 
with its opening toward the east. Two thin upright 
sticks of ocotillo had been placed at each cardinal point 
of the mound. The shrine stands on ground that is a 
few feet higher than the surrounding plain. This slight 
elevation, which provides ample space for the enclosure, 
is evidently natural, though its central part is slightly 
concave. This may have been due to the action of a 
spring. It looks as if the earth in some way had been 
removed, forming a slight basin. From this depression, 
toward the east and the west, are outlets as if water had 
been running. The western outlet is quite short, but 
the eastern is over one hundred feet long, and widens out 
so as to present broad, level ground. Here it is where 
the water finally stopped, the Indian explained, and here 
may be observed eight good-sized single stones or heaps 
of stones. Near each are placed two upright ocotillo 



I04 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

sticks, one toward the east and one toward the west. 
The four eastern stones or stone heaps have only one 
each, placed toward the east. 

Everything about the place was scrupulously clean and 
orderly; not a trace of anything to be seen on the sandy 
ground anywhere. The mound of slabs that kept the 
water down in the bowels of the earth, and prevented the 
country from being flooded, was well arranged. Though 
mainly a prayer for rain to the sea, in a way this was a 
monument to the four children who had been sacrificed, 
and though devoted to a mythical event, its extreme sim- 
plicity, relieved against a background of the simple mind 
of the natives, was impressive, as the sun, at the end of 
July, in close proximity to the western hills, poured its 
strong, beautiful light over the scene. 

Fearing a refusal, I did not ask Simon's permission to 
photograph, but, putting up my tripod, calmly brought 
my camera into action. Hardly had I begun operations 
when Pablo shouted: "People are coming! I see dust 
rising in the west." Although photography had not been 
included among the sacrilegious acts mentioned by the 
chief, still it required little sagacity to be convinced that, 
with the Papago abhorrence of the noble art, to be 
caught photographing such a place would amount to a 
crime. I had made a few exposures and now hurriedly 
put my camera and tripod together. Simon evidently 
felt very uneasy and, with his feet, began to cover with 
sand the marks that the tripod had left, making similar 
holes here and there with the sharp end of a pole, at the 
same time throwing sticks of wood about, to mislead his 




Shrine of the children's sacrifice, seen from the west 

The large heaps are discarded ocotillo sticks , 




Shrine of the children's sacrifice, near Santa Rosa 




East of the shrine of the children's sacrifice 

Here the outiJow of water is supposed to have stopped 



THE CHILDREN'S CEMETERY 105 

canny countrymen. Then we started back at a quick 
pace to our camp. 

The name of this sacred place is Aalhihiani (ali, 
child; hihian, cemetery). The enclosure's name is ki, 
house. It is renewed at irregular intervals and, accord- 
ing to my informant, sometimes every year. The pres- 
ent one had been made during the preceding winter. 
Those who make the enclosure have to come on foot to do 
the work. After the work is done there is a feast in the 
lodge, the whole night being spent in singing to the ac- 
companiment of rasping sticks. The four children come 
down from the cemetery and take part, but only the med- 
icine-men see them. In the morning the latter tell the 
people what they saw and what the children told them 
about rain and crops. 

The faces of the children when about to be sacrificed 
were painted yellow with transverse black stripes, while 
the body was painted on the front, yellow, and on the 
back, black. A hole was dug in which the children were 
made to stand up, while the medicine-men sang. The 
flow of water which was stopped came from the sea, 
threatening to flood the whole world. The Papagoes 
worship the sea. In the subdivision of the tribe called 
Hohola, tradition has it that a man once went down into 
a cavity in the ground and the sea kept him there for 
four years. His relatives, considering him dead, burned 
his house and ate his cattle. He turned up one day, asked 
them to make a house for him away from the rancheria, 
and, after having taken eight baths, one every four days, 
he began to live again as before. 



io6 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

Next morning I had an appointment with the Keeper 
of the Smoke. Some days before he had promised to 
make for me a shield of the same kind as the Papagoes 
until quite recently were in the habit of making when 
going on the war-path against the Apaches. As this is 
a solemn act, which entails much fasting and praying on 
the part of the maker, and also as it would mean, accord- 
ing to Indian notions, certain risks and observances on 
my part, we had agreed on a meeting at which I should be 
enlightened as to my duties and dangers in the matter. 

Accompanied by Pablo I arrived at the medicine 
lodge at the appointed hour, which was *'a little after 
the sun is over the horizon." We found the keeper sit- 
ting under the jacal in front of the lodge and facing the 
east. He was a stern, almost fanatical-looking Indian 
who conscientiously observes all the rules and regulations 
his religion imposes on him. There was no English or 
Spanish about this man. "1 do not do things from hear- 
say," he began. "Every evening I make a fire east of 
the jacal (in the winter it would be inside the lodge) and 
tell the people what I know to be the truth. In this 
house I tell the people what to do, and this is the place 
where any undertaking should begin." 

He spoke for nearly an hour. The shield he would 
make alone, and the proper precautions would be taken, 
but he wanted to be assured that I would not trifle with it, 
and that I should help in its making by fasting. *' People 
have sold you clown's masks and singer's masks," he 
continued; "that is very wrong, and should never have 
been done. The merit of the feast passes away with 



OTHER SACRED LOCALITIES 107 

those things. They ought to be returned, but I am not 
going to ask you to do that, because the things have been 
paid for, so it would not be right to have the bargains 
changed. But I vv^ant to tell you one thing which you 
probably do not know. Those objects are apt to make 
you ill, and when that happens, do not blame the Ind- 
ians!" 

When the time came for me to answer, I reassured 
him on the several points that caused him anxiety. The 
things I had acquired were going to be well cared for. 
I expressed my pleasure at the elucidation his talk had 
given me, and told him that I should like much to have 
another meeting with him by and by. He believed in 
me, he answered, and would meet me here again later 
on, but at present he was too busy making ready for the 
sahuaro feast which was soon to come off. He was glad 
to see me among his people, he added. 

Next day, availing myself of the permission already 
obtained, we again visited the ''cemetery" as well as 
other sacred spots in the neighborhood. I was shown 
the place where the elder men, sitting in a circle, make 
the small, bright blue prayer-sticks for the great harvest 
festival. One end is pointed, and to the other is tied a 
turkey feather; about two hundred and fifty of these are 
distributed at the feast in the interest of health, and 
some are buried later, to keep the fields moist. 

The shrine of the buried jar is situated at the cross- 
ing of two tracks, one leading to the "children's ceme- 
tery," which is west of it. It is customary ifor those who 
visit the latter place also to call here and deposit some 



io8 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

offering. The jar is buried in the ground and a small 
mound made above It, the central part of which is cov- 
ered by a flat stone. Ocotillo sticks, stripped of bark, 
are placed upright, two toward the east and two toward 
the west, and empty cartridges, bits of glass, small sea- 
shells, as well as pebbles, had been deposited here. The 
little shrine is just outside of the rancheria, toward the 
end of the slope that runs down gently from the moun- 
tains near by. The rain-water, in times gone by, had 
formed furrows and small arroyos everywhere, making 
the country look wavy. The earth around the roots of 
the ever-present greasewood bushes resists the short- 
lived torrents, and they presented the same appearance 
of growing high above the ground on top of mounds 
which usually is due to the action of the wind. At one 
place where the ground was level a vast number of light 
yellow flowers were growing, forming a carpet-like cov- 
ering among the greasewood. Quantities of broken pot- 
tery were lying about to the north-east of the small shrine 
and here, according to tradition, was the former site of 
the rancheria. 

In spite of my satisfactory meeting with the Keeper 
of the Smoke, he seemed to have efficiently blocked my 
purchase of any more Important objects, so I decided to 
make a tour of the several rancherlas to the north, where 
the sway of my uncompromising and despotic friend 
did not reach; perhaps on my return conditions might 
change. The next rancheria to the north is Anekam, 
hardly three miles away, but It Is a community distinct 
from the preceding one and even more primitive. In 



UNSOPHISTICATED INDIANS 109 

ordinary weather the inhabitants of one place can hear 
the singing of those at the other on festive occasions. 
The days were warm now, hardly any day registering 
less than 100° F. in the shade, often more. But climatic 
conditions matter less than the attitude of the people 
one meets, and here there was an unexpected charm 
of simpHcity and unobtrusive inquisitiveness which re- 
minded me of former happy occasions in my life among 
natives. A sahuaro feast had been concluded the day 
before. People from the surrounding country were still 
lingering and my arrival furnished an excuse for an addi- 
tional delay. Crowds of people, fifty or more, kept 
around me wherever I went. 

The Papagoes in the Santa Rosa valley are less 
spoiled by contact with civilization than in any other 
part of their country. From my note-book at this time 
I take the following remarks: *'I have never yet met 
with a cross Papago; they are always amiable. In my 
quest for specimens they smilingly admit me to their 
store-rooms to inspect their fine granary baskets and 
other kinds of baskets and utensils, and allow me to 
look around inside and outside of the houses as much 
as I like. On the other hand, they have no tact; they 
seat themselves unconcernedly in a folding easy chair of 
mine, or go to the box in which I keep my collections and 
take out all the things to look at. They are always on 
hand at meal-times; they dive with delight into the box 
of crackers set before them, and are very fond of coffee." 

They were rather a crude type, but pleasant to deal 
with, and were continually bringing things for me to buy. 



no NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

At Anekam most of the middle-aged women and some of 
the men had their faces tattooed. These facial markings 
are dark blue in color and not elaborate. Common to 
both sexes is a thick line under the eyes, passing the 
outer angle of the eye and continuing parallel to the 
mouth until it nearly reaches the hair. This is almost 
becoming, reminding one of the way actors darken 
the eyelids. Men have besides markings on the fore- 
head, and women, on the chin, have waving parallel 
lines descending from each corner of the mouth. Tattoo- 
ing has been discontinued; the marks used to be ap- 
plied with thorns from the sahuaro, taken from the top 
of the plant, and the charcoal of greasewood. Its pur- 
pose is somewhat doubtful. For men the reasons given 
were to draw blood from the eye; for women, to avoid 
getting wrinkles early. Generally women were the oper- 
ators. After having been tattooed, salt was not eaten 
for a month. 

A curious case of a woman nursing her two children 
of different ages came under my observation here. When 
seated, she had the younger lying on the ground in its 
primitive cradle with the large detachable shade, while the 
larger one, a boy of four or five years, was playing about. 
He would frequently run up to his mother and demand 
his rights which were never refused. Standing up with 
a large straw hat on his head he enjoyed the mother's 
milk usually reserved for children of more tender years. 
Sometimes children who are able to walk are kept in the 
cradle. 

The wellnigh universal superstition relating to flint 



A UNIVERSAL SUPERSTITION in 

arrow-heads is also found among the Papagoes, though 
one would think that sufficient time had not elapsed 
since the days when the natives themselves made such 
objects. Their very name is lightning stone (vihom), 
and one man who presented me with one assured me 
that he found it by searching the ground after light- 
ning had struck near his house. Sometimes, when 
lightning strikes a tree, the Indians will dig in the 
ground underneath for arrow-points. It should be noted 
in this connection that these Indians fear lightning, al- 
though they are not afraid of thunder. Bows and arrows 
are still used in Anekam in hunting rabbits, quail, doves, 
etc. 

Our next stop was made at Kukomalik, fourteen miles 
further north, a new rancheria which owes its existence 
to a fine well left by Americans who had to aban- 
don an attempt at cattle-raising. At only nine miles' 
distance from there, in the north-west, is Kohatk; this is 
the first Pima rancheria, and the principal one of four 
rancherias or villages which are found in a small extent 
of country hardly thirty miles long, beginning immediately 
south of the Casa Grande station on the Southern Pacific 
Railroad. It may be termed the Kohatk country, being 
inhabited by the Kohatk people, who are Pimas that 
have, to some extent, retained their originality. They 
have, at least, been less affected by the white man than 
their confreres at the Sacaton Reservation, and may 
possibly for a few years offer a fair field to the student. 
The country traversed after leaving Anekam was singu- 
larly devoid of animal life. Not even a jack-rabbit 



112 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

seemed able to live here. The prevalent vegetation was, 
as usual, greasewood with salt bushes now and then. 
Low sand dunes were visible here and there. 

The Pimas of Kohatk I found to be good-tempered, 
affable people. The women cut their hair In front so as 
to have bangs and they are good-looking. These natives 
seem to be somewhat under Roman Catholic Influence 
and have abandoned their native feasts. Photographing 
was as much detested here as elsewhere. The sight of 
my camera would make the children take to the woods 
and the old men hurriedly disappear on hands and 
knees into their dome-shaped huts. 

I heard neither English nor Spanish spoken, but the 
Inhabitants have adopted the frontier man's way of living, 
frying their meat in lard and adding quantities of it to 
their beans. They buy white flour and make unwhole- 
some tortillas in boiling lard. This heavy, poorly cooked 
food forms their daily regime, without any variety. A 
small bucketful of coffee Is distributed at meal-time both 
In the middle of the day and in the evening. They pos- 
sess cattle but, like most white ranchers, are too lazy to 
milk the cows. The meals are appropriately served on 
plates of cheap crockery and cups bought In the white 
man's stores. The participants give audible evidence of 
consuming more lard than is good for them, and, were the 
facts known, "to be as dyspeptic as a civilized Indian" 
would be an adage. Think of the anomaly of leaving 
wholesome, natural, well-cooked dishes for a diet of lard 
and the cheapest kinds of canned goods. 

Contrary to the universally accepted opinion, the cul- 



ATTRACTIONS OF THE SIMPLE LIFE 113 

sine of barbarous Indians is excellent. To be»sure, they 
have few dishes, but there is variety enough, and an im- 
portant fact Is that the food is never "killed," i. e., over- 
cooked, as Is the all too common habit of the poor white 
man; the food retains a natural, pronounced flavor of its 
own, unknown to most whites, besides having all the 
life-giving elements. After all, nothing tastes as well as 
the simple things, well cooked. What Is better than the 
whole wheat cakes of the Papago Indians of Sonora ? 
They are nature's genuine gift to hungry men, furnish- 
ing at the same time extreme satisfaction to one's sense 
of taste. I know of an American who came across this 
dish fit for kings in a corner of Sonora, to whom it was 
such a revelation that he ordered two sacks of the flour 
to be sent to his distant home. The primitive Indian 
way of cooking beans In clay vessels without lard Is un- 
surpassed for preserving the inherent flavor of the bean. 
No one can cook squash as my modest Indian hostess or 
make an atole bianco (thin gruel of maize) like hers; even 
the Mexican women cannot compete with her in this. 
The green corn that is offered in early autumn In fash- 
ionable restaurants In New York as a native delicacy 
ought to bring a blush of shame to the chef's cheeks, 
watery and devoid of flavor as it Is. 

Apart from the stultifying process of jumping liter- 
ally, as the saying goes, from the frying-pan into the 
fire In their effort to Imitate the white man, there is a 
very sad feature connected with the abandonment of 
native dishes. Indigestion and a one-sided diet under- 
mine the strong constitution of the Indian, enfeeble his 



114 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

blood, and leave him with little power of resistance to 
his great scourge, tuberculosis. According to my inter- 
preter, who is an observant man, it is no uncommon 
occurrence among the Papagoes who have adopted the 
white's man's cooking, even to die from indigestion. 
Next to brandy, lard is the greatest curse civilized man 
has brought to the Indian. 

After a warm and cloudy night we had the somewhat 
rare experience of four hours of rain in the forenoon. 
Still, in the afternoon, as the rain had not been so very 
heavy, we decided to return to Kukomalik, thinking we 
might get there in an hour and a half by driving a little 
fast. We made our way very well up to about a mile 
within our destination, when our horses began to en- 
counter difficulties. The land here was slightly de- 
pressed and therefore retained the newly fallen rain as a 
reservoir on its alluvial soil. The ground became very 
soft, and finally, in spite of heroic efforts, our horses 
could pull no more. The night had overtaken us with 
darkness, deep as in Egypt of old. Pablo went to look 
for a team to pull us out, while I remained behind try- 
ing to light a candle which the insects aggressively put 
out. At ten o'clock the moon rose and made the out- 
look a little bit more cheerful. 

A fresh team of Indian horses after a while came 
splashing through the water, but they proved inadequate 
for the task, and we had to camp where we were. The 
mud was of the kind of which adobe is made and stuck 
to our shoes like clay, but there was no necessity for" 
walking around much. There were a few mezquite 



MOSQUITOES EFFICIENTLY BALKED 115 

sticks lying about, and lots of resinous toviso bushes 
were growing near, so we could make a fire and had 
excellent beef soup. Pablo arranged a comfortable bed 
for himself by pulling up a number of the same generous 
bushes. I also helped my dog to secure comfort for the 
night, his usual tactics being to lie down on top of a 
bush, thus pressing the branches to the ground by his 
weight. As for myself, I again enjoyed the usefulness 
of my folding cot which, on account of its height, prevents 
any discomfort from boggy or slightly uneven ground. 
There were some mosquitoes about, but I slept well 
after smearing my face and hands with an effectual 
protection of French-Canadian origin which I can 
confidently recommend. It consists of seventeen parts 
olive oil, one part carbolic acid, and two parts oil of 
pennyroyal. The humidity of the air, however, was 
surprising, for my blankets were found in the morning 
to be thoroughly wet, as if they had been exposed to 
rain. 

Shortly after sunrise our Papago returned with his 
two horses and a shovel. The four horses stamped 
timidly in the mud and could not at first be brought to 
pull together. Through continued and frantic efforts on 
the part of us all, the wagon moved forward again. After 
having spent a few hours at the rancheria drying our 
things in the warm sun, we returned to Anekam where 
people were glad to see us again, and the next day found 
us once more at Santa Rosa in the evening. 



^ 



CHAPTER VIII 

SCORPIONS— A STORM IN THE DESERT— HOW THE SAHUARO WINE 
IS MADE— THE SAHUARO FEAST AT SANTA ROSA— A GREAT REN- 
DEZVOUS—SOCIAL AMUSEMENTS OF THE PAPAGO— SUCCESS AT 
COLLECTING SPECIMENS— STUCK IN THE MUD— WONDERFUL 
CHANGE IN THE LANDSCAPE— A VALUABLE VEGETABLE— PART- 
ING WITH PABLO 

My little house in Santa Rosa I found occupied by 
guests who had arrived to take part in the much-her- 
alded sahuaro feast that was soon to be celebrated. I, 
therefore, drove the wagon up to some erect poles, the 
remnants of a shed, and put up my fly between these 
and the wagon. During the night I awoke from what 
first seemed a disagreeable dream, but which proved to 
be an intense pain in the little toe. I applied some ex- 
tract of rattlesnake beans, which a friend of mine had 
induced me to take along as a ready remedy against the 
bites of poisonous snakes and other troublesome creat- 
ures. The pain seemed to come from the nail, as if it 
were being forcibly bent backward, but after a couple of 
hours it subsided sufficiently for me to fall asleep again. 
In the morning the foot was swollen and I could not 
wear my shoe, but after twelve hours I was all right 
again. Perhaps the mischief was due to a small scor- 
pion, though the Japanese doctor in Caborca, to whom 
I related the occurrence, seemed to think that it was a 
case of a very poisonous ant of Arizona noted for the 
extreme pain caused by its bite. 

ii6 



OBNOXIOUS CREATURES 117 

There Is a large scorpion {hadrurus hirsutus) found 
in these parts, four and one-quarter inches long, which, 
however, is not as poisonous as the smaller species. 
Late one evening, while searching for something with 
my lantern, I came across one running along the ground, 
and which appeared at first sight to be a mouse. It was 
killed and left in an open vessel to be put in alcohol the 
next day. In the morning I found that the ever-present 
and hungry hens of the Indians had already taken care 
of it. With the exception of scorpions, there are not 
many obnoxious creatures in the region. Rattlesnakes, 
of course, there are, but they should not be classed in 
the same category with the rest, because they always 
give warning of their presence, besides being perhaps the 
only snakes known to be good-tempered. According to 
the Indians, few horses and cattle are bitten; they know 
the rattlesnakes and turn away when they hear the 
sound; dogs also know them. Children in the West 
have been known to lift them up unharmed, and the 
extraordinary performance of the Hopi Indians carrying 
them alive in their mouths may be called to mind. I 
never like to kill a rattler. 

On Sunday morning, August 8, dark, nimbus clouds 
were gathering in ''threatening" fashion, as the inhabi- 
tants of countries with normal rainfall would say, but 
here where the very existence of the people is dependent 
on a few showers in July and August, they awakened 
joyful expectations. The prospect of rain was at that 
time uppermost in everybody's thoughts, day in and day 
out. It means success in raising crops, the filling by the 



ii8 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

rain of dams and rock cavities, which will ensure drink- 
ing water for man and beast until the next summer and 
the growing of grass to keep cattle and horses alive. 
People of the desert learn, however, to be very patient 
about the arrival of the blessed water of the clouds and 
conservative in their estimate of rain prospects. Usu- 
ally the clouds pass away to reappear again the next day 
and many more days, resulting often in mere gusts of 
wind. Since early morning we had heard thunder in 
the south-east, and later also from the north-west and 
west. Lead-colored, heavy clouds were gathering every- 
where. Still, when the storm came, it took us somewhat 
by surprise. Even the Indian visitors had their bed- 
ding left on the ground when the dust storm, the ad- 
vance guard of the rain, fell upon us, travelling forty 
to fifty miles an hour. 

Pablo and I hurriedly rolled up my bedding, putting 
that and a few important things that I could seize in 
the short time allotted inside of the ancient house with 
the small entrance. The rest, among them a camera 
and a box containing films, I covered as well as I could 
inside of the wagon. Pablo, as usual, did not have his 
ropes ready to fasten the wagon cover securely, and it 
threatened to blow away. In shorter time than it takes 
to tell it, the rain was upon us. He threw his quilt into 
the opening of the cover to protect the baggage and collec- 
tions; then he hurriedly made his escape into the hut where 
I had just sought refuge from the fierce outburst of rain 
and wind. 

The storm abated somewhat ere long, but was im- 



AFTER THE RAIN 119 

mediately succeeded by others, and when finally, after 
two hours, the weather calmed, the arroyo at the back 
of the houses was roaring as if in joy at being born a 
river again. Before the rain was over the children were 
playing in the newly made ponds. Soon the grown-ups 
appeared on the scene, all much animated. While Pablo 
and I started to dry and clean our things, they enthusi- 
astically resumed their interrupted preparations for mak- 
ing the wine, which was to play such an important part 
in the approaching sahuaro feast. Juan had already 
evacuated his hut the day before in order to devote it 
to wine making. Early in the morning men had brought 
large earthen jars belonging to his and the neighboring 
houses, and the jars were now resting safely in cavities 
that had been dug in the earthen floor of the hut, twigs 
of fresh greasewood as usual forming their immediate 
support. 

As soon as the rains ceased a procession of women 
started off to fetch the necessary water for the wine 
making. The cheery women, each superbly supporting 
a shining olla on her head, looked picturesque as they 
walked one after the other through the greasewood 
bushes in the beautiful light after the storm. Two trips 
had to be made and the full jars were all deposited out- 
side of the house, to be used as soon as the clay vessels 
containing the sahuaro sirup were opened; of these 
there were a dozen medium-sized on hand, all neatly 
sealed. 

About one o'clock in the afternoon the solemn work 
of mixing the sirup with water began. Two young 



I20 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

men seated on the ground under the jacal in front of 
Juan's hut and facing the east began these operations. 
The sweet stuff was first poured into a large and deep 
water-tight basket, with symbohc designs in the weaving, 
one placed before each young man. Water was poured 
into this, in the proportion of two-thirds to a third part; 
sometimes half and half is used. The operators, who 
had their shirt sleeves turned up to the elbow, mixed 
according to rules and regulations. Slowly stretching 
their hands, palm down and forward, over the fluid, 
they would immerse them and draw them along the 
bottom toward themselves, then rubbing the hands twice 
against each other over the fluid. This was repeated 
several times. As a change they sometimes dipped 
them into the liquid, lifted up what the two hollows of 
the hands would hold, and rubbed it into foam, con- 
tinuing rubbing until the foam disappeared. An elderly 
man then tasted the mixture, carried the basket into the 
house, and emptied it into one of the big jars. This 
procedure of mixing lasted nearly four hours. In the 
same way the brewing of the much esteemed wine was 
commenced that day not only in the Big House, but 
in many of the private dwellings of the great rancheria. 
Usually several families unite forces at one house and, 
when the official feast of two days is over at the lodge, 
people gather at the houses to drink and get drunk. 

Shortly after sunset that day, the loud voice of the 
herald who calls the meeting to order, sounded from 
the lodge. His exhortations lasted several minutes, and 
although I at a distance could not distinguish the words, 




Desert willow in bloom, June 



Papago woman carrying water 



f# 


1- " *'" 


^ 




l^^^^l^^l^^ri^^^^^^ 


^^_ 


^^»' " ^^^B^^^I#-*'^^J^_::t'A^^H 


hI^^I^IHI 


^^Efi 



The dam at Santa Rosa. Made by the Papagoes 



DANCING AND SINGING 121 

I have no doubt that his voice, which rang clear 
in the quiet night, carried over the entire rancheria. 
What he was saying was, of course, known to every- 
body; hearing the call was enough to summon them for 
the important event. People were slow in assembling 
and the dancing began late. The long string of eagle 
plumes over the dancing place, that had been a promi- 
nent feature in the arrangement at the former sahuaro 
feast in which I took part, was missing here. During 
an accidental fire in the house of the keeper with the 
ominous name, the sacred emblem had literally gone up 
in smoke. A band of medicine-men, some of them called 
from a considerable distance, were making up for the 
defect. There were four of them inside the circle, walk- 
ing around in a row, moving their plumes and invoking 
the rain. At times they would dance about like children 
gesticulating wildly with their plumes. Two of them 
wore cast-off garments of whites, and one in a long, 
smart-looking mackintosh, looked especially ludicrous, 
cutting extraordinary capers to induce the rain to come. 
The dancing and singing were on a much larger scale 
than at the feast I had previously attended, as befitted 
such an important locality as the Santa Rosa. The 
leading singers, as well as a few of the others in the 
circle of about a hundred dancing and singing men 
and women, had astonishingly powerful voices. There 
was an atmosphere of order and sincerity and devotion 
among the participants. Very noticeable was a woman 
leader, who walked next to the man who, swinging his 
rattle and singing, leads the whole procession. She had 



122 



NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 



an extraordinary soprano that would have done credit 
anywhere, untutored to be sure, but rich, sonorous, and 
of great force. She was the wife of the Keeper of the 
Smoke, and had a married granddaughter! 

For about an hour I danced and sang, making my 
way in among the leaders. Their singing was almost 




THE "FROG DOCTOR" 

A PAPAGO RAIN SONG HEARD AT THE SAHUARO FEASTS 
-I N 



^ 



Pd - pa - t 

Frog 



ma - ka 

doctor 



kd - na 



Pd 



pa - t 

Frog 




:K=:i: 



ta 



ma - kai 

doctor 



ka 



na im nd 

continually 



katsh - i njii - hu 

sits sings 




-^v— 



Vd - shan 

yonder 



n]U 



yo - pa 

spring forth 



ka 



hii 



va - ho - li 

winds 




^^E^ 



k6 - kvin 
end 



-iSt- 

hong 



Si - ni - vd 

(make) me 



si - ta - i - ma. 

(without meaning) 



The frog is thought to possess powers of a medicine-man (makai). Being 
connected with water he is, according to Indian belief, able to influence the com- 
ing of rain and is therefore implored to assist in bringing moisture to the earth. 

deafening, and after a while I walked home to my camp, 
enjoying the singing better at the distance of a mile. 
The next night, near my bed time, it sounded especially 
well; they were singing the "Frog Doctor," a song 
about rain and moisture that I had learned, and which 
has the distinction of being in the major key. I could 



THE GODS HAVE HAD THEIR SHARE 123 

follow the words at that distance. In their enthusiasm 
they seemed to be trying to wring the rain from the gods, 
and above them all could be heard that wonderful so- 
prano. Every time a new stanza came around, they 
intoned as is their custom the first words with all the 
power of their lungs, giving the singing a triumphant 
expression. 

During the two nights of singing and ceremonies, 
the wine was getting ready for consumption on the 
third day, at which time people gathered outside the 
lodge to the number of some five hundred, including 
many who had not taken part in the exercises. Many 
came to drink wine at the houses of their friends and 
relatives, and had been invited from such distant places 
as Florence on the Gila River and San Pedro in Sonora, 
everybody first having been present at the distributing of 
the wine at the lodge. 

Young boys on horseback had been in evidence in 
the morning, racing joyously with each other and rais- 
ing dust wherever they went. Some of them were pre- 
maturely under the influence of liquor, the result of the 
inroads of civilization. It is characteristic of the primi- 
tive Indian to be strict and formal in his religious ob- 
servances, but after the festival, when the gods have had 
their share, he, too, wants a good time and takes it. The 
rising generation, breaking away from their native cus- 
toms, make no such fine distinction. 

People came on horseback or in wagons, some of 
them in light carriages; one well-to-do Indian from 
the northern part of Baboquivari arrived in quite a 



124 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

smart turnout with two white horses and had a well-fed 
dog running alongside. He wore spectacles and brought 
his family with him. It was a curious assemblage in 
the desert. There was as yet no shouting to be heard or 
any other noise than that of wagons rolling and horses 
galloping over the sandy ground, but the scene was one 
of bustling activity that reminded one of a race-track 
meeting. 

The ceremonies began at noon and only a minority 
of tliQse present could sit down on the dancing place 
and take an active part; most of them had to be spec- 
tators, standing or sitting on their horses around the 
square of human rows. Beyond these, wagons had 
been drawn up which were filled with standing specta- 
tors. The chief passed me in the throng and said he 
was glad to see me at the feast. He hoped I would 
make the most of it and see everything; I thought he 
might have invited me to take a seat among those on 
the "ground floor." However, any one who liked was 
free to do so if he were able to squeeze himself in. As 
it was, I preferred to be where I stood. 

People were in their very best finery, and some of 
the women were a sight to behold in gaudy colors, not 
exactly the cheapest stuff, for the present-day Papago is 
well-to-do and wants the best, although he does not want 
to pay high prices. The most conspicuous dresses 
seemed to be made from mercerized silk, very thin, 
and were fair copies of the prevailing fashions among 
white women in town or on the ranch. The Papago 
woman is clever and cuts her clothes herself, sewing 



WHEN MAN MAKES A FOOL OF HIMSELF 125 

them on the machine, which she owns or borrows from 
her more fortunate sisters. Petticoats are considered 
less necessary. At Juan's ranch, on which was my 
camp, the women folks had been working for two days 
to get their dresses ready for this occasion. Until mid- 
night the running of the sewing machine could be heard 
from the little house I had at first occupied. 

The ceremonies and speeches proceeded in the same 
manner as those I had witnessed before. The wine was 
distributed only to the fortunate ones seated in the 
square, and there was not much of it either. After an 
hour the whole affair was over and people dispersed to 
the different houses, where the brew of the season was 
awaiting them. To be present at the revelries which fol- 
lowed was not pleasant. It was a good-tempered crowd, 
but drunken people are nuisances, whether in civiliza- 
tion or among barbarians. However, if anything, there 
is some excuse for a barbarian to get drunk, for he thinks 
it is the will of the gods, and that it helps to bring about 
rain. Moreover, his native intoxicant, indulged in only 
on certain religious occasions, does not do him much 
physical harm. 

There were some ludicrous sights to behold, mingled 
with pathetic. Two women on the point of starting for 
home were seated in a wagon, both visibly under the 
influence of the sahuaro wine. They were conversing 
and weeping in their effusive feelings for each other, 
while a suckling infant at the breast of one of them was 
adding to the wail from a quite different sentiment. A 
thick-set, resolute woman with a nice face, an acquaint- 



126 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

ance of mine from Anekam, took charge of her drunken 
husband, trying to get a start for home. The board that 
closes the hind part of the wagon had been taken out, 
as if ready for loading; she invoked the help of a sober- 
looking young fellow and, with their combined efforts, 
the heavy bulk of her husband was landed safely in the 
wagon. The young man next, in a most informal way, 
helped the corpulent lady herself to climb up by grabbing 
hold of one of her legs and shoving her upwards with all 
his might, as if she were a log. 

It became necessary for me to begin my return journey 
to Tucson, and I proceeded first to a rancheria, which is 
in close proximity to Santa Rosa. I had learned that 
an old man who had given me valuable information at San 
Xavier was living here, and I desired to see him again. 
He turned out to be the most influential person there and 
was very kind. True, he accepted an unusual amount 
of presents in the shape of provisions, tobacco, etc., but 
his good-will was well worth the price. The people were 
encouraged by him to sell me what I wanted and there 
was no loss of time from having to coax and wait or 
having to dispel suspicions and fear. Everybody was 
obliging and glad to sell. Some went to the practising 
enclosure of the place and rifled it of anything I might 
desire and they all searched their houses. It was as if I 
had come to a primitive tribe in Australia. I secured 
good masks and a complete clown's outfit, the best so 
far, including a pouch in which tobacco and medicine 
plumes are carried. 

At my request a man was sent to Anekam to try to 



DISAPPOINTMENTS 127 

procure an old shield used in Apache fights, which was 
said to be in the possession of a young man who had in- 
herited it from his father. When a Papago dies his per- 
sonal effects are buried with him, with the exception of 
his weapons which are hung in the houses of friends or 
relatives until they decay. If the deceased had played 
some role at the great harvest festival, his mask and other 
sacred paraphernalia are also taken care of by his sur- 
vivors. I therefore had hopes that my messenger might 
return with this at present priceless object. But alas! 
the young man to whom the shield had been entrusted, im- 
bued with the new notions of his generation and at the 
same time fearing that some harm might come to him 
from keeping an object of so much superstitious awe, had 
burned it a few years ago. 

Evidently the rainfall of the night before we started on 
our return had been heavier in the region eastward, the 
ground in many places being unusually boggy. Our 
immediate aim was Aktjin, a large rancheria south-east 
of Santa Rosa, and we had been instructed about the 
roads, which are little travelled in these parts. Unfor- 
tunately, Pablo, who had never been here before, took the 
wrong track, the boggy places grew more frequent, and 
we could proceed but slowly. At one place, evidently part 
of a wide arroyo, we travelled for fifty yards through 
muddy water, which reached even to the hubs of the 
wheels. The danger of being stuck fast in the mud 
seemed imminent, but our horses were plucky and they 
finally pulled us through. We congratulated ourselves on 
our luck and decided to take lunch then and there. For 



128 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

the sake of comfort, I turned up my trousers to the knees 
and walked about in bare feet on the wet and sticky soil. 
It did not seem possible that we were in a desert region. 
That part of the country is extensive and uninhabited; 
the soil is rich and it would make a splendid agricultural 
district. Even if there were not rains like this every year, 
one might build dams and sink wells. Our horses had 
splendid grass to eat and we had a good lunch. 

It now looked as if we were to have plain sailing and, 
although we were on the wrong track, we hoped in some 
way to reach before dark a small rancheria, "Yellow 
Caterpillar," which was near our destination. This ran- 
cheria owes its name to the prevalence of an edible cater- 
pillar in the neighborhood. We had not travelled long 
when we came abruptly upon the banks of quite a deep 
arroyo that had to be crossed. The mud was knee-deep 
and the bank on the other side unusually steep; however, 
there was nothing else to do but to go ahead. Full of 
confidence in his horses, Pablo urged them on and up 
the steep, short bank which they very nearly cleared; 
two inches more would have sufficed, but they fell back 
and the heavy wagon stuck in the mud up to the axles. 
We dug around the wheels and pushed and worked in 
vain; the wagon was not to be moved. Then we had 
to unload its manifold contents: boxes, bags, and bundles, 
Papago baskets of all sizes, pottery, bows and arrows, 
sahuaro poles, wooden ploughs, and a host of things too 
numerous to mention were carried to the top of the em- 
bankment. It was nearly sunset when we were again 
able to start. Water and grass were plentiful now, so we 



UNEXPECTED AID 129 

soon made camp among the greasewoods. After dark, 
coyotes approached us within twenty yards, howUng as 
if deriding us. 

In the morning my dog, Mavit, the Papago name for 
mountain Hon, killed a lizard and showed his satisfaction 
by rolling over it in joy. He also discovered a rattlesnake 
under a greasewood near our kitchen, but was wise 
enough merely to bark at it. Pablo remained long look- 
ing for his horses which had been allowed to graze at 
large. He had walked about eight miles before recover- 
ing them and had seen no trace of any habitation. *'I 
wish somebody would come along to tell us the road," he 
said as we were having breakfast. Almost at the same 
moment, as if by magic, a party of three Papagoes on 
horseback appeared in the distance. We immediately 
went after them and brought two of them back to join our 
breakfast, one being willing to guide us to the "Yellow 
Caterpillar." They informed us that we were now 
camped on an Indian road to Silverbell. By following 
slightly elevated ground among the greasewoods we ar- 
rived safely at the rancheria. Here a light wagon was 
hired, as dilapidated a one as I ever saw, to visit Aktjin, 
an extensive rancheria in the neighborhood. 

Two young men who were ploughing denied the pos- 
session of any masks. The next house visited happened 
to be theirs, and, on making the same inquiry here, the 
mother-in-law of one of them obligingly brought forth for 
our inspection a jar, the opening of which had been sealed 
in the usual way by a piece of pottery and mud. She 
broke it open and revealed to our admiring eyes a singer's 



130 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

and a clown's masks, which were kept inside. They be- 
longed to the two young men. The singer's mask was 
just the kind I needed to complete my collection, and I 
hurriedly made a sketch of its decorative designs before 
returning it to the owners. Nothing would induce them 
to part with it, for they said that these things were worth 
a great deal to them. 

Owing to several showers lately, the country in the 
middle of August had changed its aspect and was clothed 
in the opulent dress of summer, suggesting little of the 
desert. Leaves and grass and flowers had appeared in- 
credibly fast. In the pools I took my baths, and around 
the mezquite trees, where the grass was growing thickest, 
the horses feasted on nature's bounty. The mezquites, 
the modest leguminous trees of the arid region, and the 
greasewoods looked beautiful in the glory of the summer. 
The air was permeated with the scent of the blossoms of 
the cat-claw, an acacia armed with more terrific spines 
than any other tree of these regions. The ocotillo was in 
leaf, yellowish-red poppies grew in the tall grass, and the 
ground was covered in patches with a kind of small yel- 
low marguerites which emitted a refreshing fragrance, and 
among which it was a delight to place my cot at night. 
This is a great country for morning glories {ipomoea) ; there 
are at least ten species and, in the thickets along the 
arroyos, intensely blue flowers of this kind had entwined 
themselves around the bushes and seemed to cheer one 
on. In three or four weeks this would be all changed, 
the flowers turned to seed and the grass dry and gray. 

In and near the fields of some of the ranches, where 



THE MAGIC OF THE RAIN 131 

the soil was rich, the quehte, in Spanish bledo {amaranthus 
Palmeri), grew in great profusion, sometimes presenting 
the appearance of a large, dark, dull-green mass of vege- 
tation. This plant, when young and tender, furnishes 
an excellent vegetable much relished by the Indians, but 
as only an insignificant part of the luxuriant growth is 
utilized, in his fields of agriculture it becomes the most 
formidable weed he has to contend with. When freshly 
gathered and immediately cooked, this vegetable is su- 
perior in taste to spinach, resembling more in flavor 
fresh asparagus. In the neighborhood of Tucson it is 
appreciated by Indians and Mexicans alike during its 
short season, though the Anglo-Saxon, in his assumed 
superior knowledge, has so far ignored it. Quelite, in- 
expensive and easy to cultivate, should be accepted by civil- 
ized households. It grows prodigiously fast and several 
crops may be raised in a year. 

On the morning that we passed north of the Babo- 
quivari Range, the fog climbed slowly along the sides 
of the mountains, after a while resting like snow-white 
clouds over the crests and giving them a superb aspect 
against the light blue sky in the pure, clear atmosphere. 
It was as if one had been suddenly transported to the 
moist, temperate zones of the earth. The arroyo west of 
Robles Ranch ran full of water, as a broad river in flood. 
Some Indians whom we met had been obliged to spend the 
night on the bank without being able to cross until the 
morning. As we passed the last branch of the newly 
made river which was hurrying along to disappear soon 
in the desert, four Mexican cowboys appeared on horse- 



132 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

back against the sky on the embankment. They looked 
picturesque as they approached the water, but, on per- 
ceiving my kodak, they immediately stopped and posed 
for me, as if from a signal, for Mexicans are immoderately 
fond of being photographed. There was no interest in 
such a picture of men posing to look beautiful, so I put 
my kodak away and we continued the crossing. 

My last night before reaching Tucson was spent 
mostly under the wagon on account of a shower. In this 
part of the country, where the storms of the brief wet 
season, July and August, come from south-east or east, 
the wagon should be placed for the night north and 
south on account of the protection its broadside affords, 
as the storms are fierce, especially in July, although 
local and limited in duration. In spite of inconven- 
iences I had suffered from lack of a tent, the trip had 
been a successful one. The charm of the wilds had 
seized me again. No mode of life is equal to that of 
camping out, if one knows how, and no life so engaging 
as that spent in the hope of adding to human knowledge. 

In Tucson I parted with Pablo who, not speaking 
Spanish, would be less useful in Mexico, which I pre- 
pared next to enter. He had been a pleasant and effi- 
cient companion and assistant. It is true he was care- 
less and could never keep things in their proper places; 
on our trip he gradually lost most of his own belongings, 
his pillow, his valise, and what not, but he was always 
able to manage in some way. He had little or no sys- 
tem, for, as long as our journey lasted, he never packed 
and accommodated the baggage twice exactly in the 



AN EDUCATED PAPAGO 133 

same way. Although he lost some trifling thing of 
mine, he managed never to break or injure any of my 
belongings. 

He was not an ordinary man by any means. He had, 
he said, read the Bible twice ; the story of the creation and 
the prophecies interested him most, as well as Christ's 
sayings, which he did not think people lived up to. He 
was fond of historical reading, had a great liking for 
Longfellow's "Courtship of Miles Standish," and ap- 
proved of the reports of Mr. Leupp, the Indian commis- 
sioner. He was also fond of reading newspapers and 
magazines. His moral ideas were of the highest order 
without being in the least artificial. Quick in action and 
punctual in keeping an engagement, he combined respect 
for truth with absolute honesty. Kind, hospitable, and 
confiding, he remained essentially Indian, but his liberal 
education and his fondness for reading had developed 
him into an independent, thinking human being. In 
view of the distressing, nay sickening, effect on native 
races all over the world from contact with the white 
man, often due to the missionaries themselves, it is a 
cheerful sign of the times that they are beginning to 
revise their methods of conversion. 



CHAPTER IX 

IN MAGDALENA, MEXICO— THE STATE OF SONORA— THE YAQUI 
INDIANS— AN ATTACK OF DYSENTERY— TRINCHERAS, THE RE- 
MARKABLE ANCIENT FORTIFICATIONS— ANTIQUITIES OF THE 
PAPAGUERIA— ALTAR— CABORCA— I START WESTWARD— PLACER 
MINES— THE CHOYA— ITS TERRIBLE SPINES— ITS GREAT UTIL- 
ITY—CATTLE WHICH ARE WITHOUT WATER FOR MONTHS 

Again I found myself on the familiar ground of 
Mexico, passing the border by Nogales, Sonora. Ten 
days were first spent in exploring the country east and 
north of Magdalena, a mountainous region of volcanic 
origin, showing good copper indications, mostly in por- 
phyry. Northward of Magdalena, for fifty miles or more, 
the country is less mountainous, plains intervening more 
and more, and finally affording long vistas in the direc- 
tion of Nogales as well as of Altar in the West. The 
vegetation in the beginning of September was yet in its 
richest unfolding. Pink verbenas, violet ipomoeas, and 
some extremely pretty star-shaped, small blue flowers 
growing in beds attracted attention. The grass was still 
green and on the plains it grew in abundance, reaching 
up to the horses' bellies. On an alluvial flat we rode 
through an extensive mass of quelite, which had as- 
sumed such dimensions that it was difficult to believe It 
the same plant which a month ago would have furnished 
a delicate morsel for our dinner. The erstwhile vege- 
table now consisted of thick, fibrous, or wooden stalks, 

134 



)^ 



A LOVELY VINE 135 

with large appendages of branches and leaves, bent half- 
way to the ground, but even thus reaching up to the 
saddle and making it difficult for-us to proceed. It 
seemed curious that there were no cattle or horses graz- 
ing in this abundance. The scarcity of wild animal life ^ 
was also striking, though we saw a deer once? /<^fti^P /^ 

Before starting on my journey of exploration west- 
ward, I first had to visit Hermosillo, the capital of the 
State of Sonora, in order to secure the necessary letters 
of recommendation from the government to the authori- 
ties in Altar. I improved the opportunity by making a 
tour of the important old port of Guaymas and from 
there continuing on the newly made railroad to Culiacan, 
the capital of the State of Sinaloa. 

A few miles before arriving at Guaymas, the beauti- 
ful vine antigonon leptopus, of Mexico and Central 
America, made its appearance here and there, covering 
the bushes and small trees with a profusion of pink 
flowers or creeping along the ground, comparing favor- 
ably in scenic effect with the bougainvillea, though dif- 
ferent in color. Once or twice I saw a magnificent blue 
creeper, entirely covering some low trees. A few strag- 
gling and withered-looking specimens of the sahuaro 
were observed in the neighborhood toward the south, 
the probable limit of the southern extension of this 
interesting cactus. The railroad, which will soon make 
connections with Guadalajara, the second largest city in 
the Mexican republic, will open up a country singularly 
rich for the pursuit of wellnigh all kinds of agriculture, 
and believed to contain vast resources of undeveloped 



136 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

mineral wealth. It will be one of the most important 
of the great railroad communications of Mexico. The 
climate is very warm and the month of September did 
not show much abatement of the heat. In the hotels 
ice is always served with the water and it is found very 
acceptable. However, in this comparatively dry region, 
which is still part of the so-called Sonora Desert, one 
is always reminded that the drinking water served is 
very likely to be neither clean nor wholesome. It ought 
to be boiled before drinking. 

The State of Sonora is, as is well-known, the home of 
the Yaqui Indians and the scene of war for, more or less, 
one hundred and sixty years between these extraordinary 
able-bodied and very intelligent Indians and the masters 
of Mexico on the other hand. It is the old question oc- 
curring all over the world, whether the country belongs 
to the native of the soil or to the conqueror, and, without 
desiring to enter into the merits or demerits of the case 
in point, I should like to express my pleasure at the re- 
cent termination of hostilities which were ruinous to both 
sides. What soldiers can compete with men who have 
been known to make seventy miles a day on foot, carry- 
ing as provisions only a bag of pinole .? Their campaign 
was an instance of the destruction that a well-directed 
guerilla force may cause. Mining and agriculture came 
to a standstill and nobody ventured outside of Hermosillo 
and Guaymas without an escort. The partner of the 
photographer of Guaymas had been killed by the Yaquis, 
and the photographer himself had been deprived of a 
large sum of money by them, so he entertained no kindly 




* WSS^^M. «ibS 



The old way of hauling freight in Mexico, now disappearing 




Bringing bat guano to Corral railroad station in the Yaqlti country 




Yaqui chiefs who in 1909 made peace with the Mexican Government 

To the left, in lower row, Chief Bule. His two young sons at either side 



ABLE INDIANS 137 

feeling toward them, but he said that their valor was 
superb. A Mexican colonel and friend of his went to 
the Yaqui River with six hundred and forty soldiers. 
Four years later his force had been reduced to one hun- 
dred and forty, and if the authorities had not transferred 
them somewhere else, they would soon have had to 
transfer him alone, the colonel told him. Peace, hon- 
orable to both parties, had been concluded a few months 
before my arrival. The chiefs received military rank of 
varying degrees with corresponding salaries, pledging 
themselves in return to maintain peace and order in 
their respective districts. 

The Yaqui, besides their own language, speak Span- 
ish and are Roman Catholic, although they keep up 
many aboriginal customs and beliefs. As miners and 
laborers they are preferred by Americans to Caucasians 
or other races. They have, which for Indians is a sin- 
gular gift, great mechanical ability and learn to work 
machines quicker than the whites. This I have on the 
authority of Americans themselves. When the war left 
Sonora without working men, Chinese and Japanese were 
imported, but their work was not half as well done. 
Even when fifty or sixty years old the hair of the Yaqui 
remains black and their teeth are as white as pearls. 

An unexpected attack of dysentery, caused by putting 
too much ice in my wash-tub, compelled me to shorten 
my stay and return to Magdalena, where I was ill for a 
week. It may be of interest to travellers to know that 
Hunyadi Janos water, two small glasses a day, was ex- 
tremely beneficial in my case, and was in fact my prin- 



138 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

cipal remedy. Outside of my rooms on the plaza prep- 
arations were being made for the annual feast of San 
Francisco, the patron saint, which was to begin two 
weeks hence on the 8th of October. Two monstrosi- 
ties of merry-go-rounds of the most prosaic American 
manufacture, with mechanical devices for the accom- 
panying noise of horribly loud organs, began operations 
ahead of time, one of them being a few feet from my 
window. The one melody of which the instruments 
were capable — that is, if the mechanical noise could be 
dignified by such a name — was produced over and over 
again for hours, and it became a maddening, unbearable 
torment which decided me, though in a weak condition, 
to move. 

With my attendant, a middle-aged Mexican from 
Mazatlan, I arrived safely at a cluster of houses lying 
on both sides of a street, seven miles from Magdalena, 
called San Ignacio. An impressive old church presides 
as usual over the village, which is remarkable as be- 
ing-Father Kino's second mission in Sonora, established 
in the year 1687. I hoped to find a room with some 
Mexican family here. Most of the houses had plots of 
ground with fruit trees and some attempts at gardening. 
The quiet, peaceful, atmosphere of the place was hke a 
soothing balm to the nerves. I stopped outside the house 
of Prisciliano Ruiz, my former guide, to consult him as 
to a convenient room. He himself had a small house, 
consisting of a single room, which had just been vacated, 
and he urged me to take it. My things were moved in 
here and my cot put up between the small window and 



NATURE'S OWN REMEDY 139 

the door, so as to ensure plenty of air, and I felt truly 
thankful to be beyond hearing of the fiesta. Sitting all 
day in a garden where granadas, lemon and walnut trees 
grew, but where nature itself had done most of the gar- 
dening, I soon began to recover; the lovely air, nature's 
cheerful surroundings, and the unobtrusive kindness of 
my host and hostess making me feel better immediately. 
In a day or two I was able to share their came con caldo, 
the Mexican pot au feu, which includes such delicacies 
as new green corn, new string beans, and squashes. 

My attendant was a cargador (carrier) whose business 
may best be described as being that of moving goods 
which he carries on his own back. He was one of those 
men who can move a piano in this manner. He hailed 
from Mazatlan, where he used to make a good living as a 
dock laborer, but the life was hard, he overstrained him- 
self, and he was now a handy man in Magdalena, of good 
reputation and much employed. Though slightly below 
medium size, when at his best he had been able to carry 
twenty-six arrobas (six hundred and fifty pounds). Oddly 
enough, during his work he used to consume a bottle of 
mescal a day, for, like all cargadores, he believed in 
stimulants; it made him stronger, he would insist. Even 
at the present day he was capable of carrying five hun- 
dred pounds. 

After six days' stay here I felt sufficiently improved 
in health to return to Magdalena where arrangements had 
been made for a start westward on the same day with a 
wagon and two men. Though the fiesta was still several 
days off, the streets were filled with throngs of people who 



HO NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

had come to deposit money with the Image of the locally 
famous saint — thousands of dollars — gaining thus ma- 
terial benefit, besides having a good time. The saint is 
especially honored by the Papagoes, who gather from dis- 
tant parts of their extensive region to do homage in a very 
substantial way. We met two large parties of Indians, 
men and women, riding on horseback, in their best out- 
fits. At dusk a party of gypsies — Hungarians, as they are 
called in Mexico — passed us, also bound for the great 
fiesta of San Francisco. From the town of Santa Ana 
we took the road to El Tiro gold mine, which passes the 
village called Trincheras, which I was desirous of visiting 
on account of its remarkable ancient structures. For 
three or four hours we were crossing a large, low mesa 
with a predominant vegetation of palo fierro trees, the 
leaves of which furnish here the sole means of subsistence 
for herds of cattle. They grow fat on this, drinking 
water only every third day. 

Trincheras derives its name from the "trenches," as 
the Mexicans call them, which cover one side of a long 
mountain, at the base of which the village lies on a fer- 
tile plain. There is much water under the sandy plain 
and a steam pump has been erected which sends It four- 
teen miles west to El Boludo gold mine. The ancient 
works which I, for convenience, shall call fortifications, 
run as walls along the north side of the mountain, parallel 
to each other and seemingly at the same distance apart 
though of different lengths. They presented an extraor- 
dinary sight, made more Impressive by the afternoon 
sun, which, by its accompanying shadows, brought the 



NOTABLE ANCIENT STRUCTURES 141 

stone walls into strong relief. I counted twenty of them, 
one above the other. Roughly speaking, they occupied a 
height of about four hundred feet measured from base 
to top, some of them attaining a length of two thousand 
feet. After sunset hundreds of turkey vultures circled 
over the tops of the mountain, and finally settled down 
for the night on the uppermost rocks. 

The mountain runs in an easterly and westerly direc- 
tion and has four tops, the highest rising over five hun- 
dred feet above the plain; the western is the lowest, 
being hardly four hundred feet. The fortifications are 
found mainly in the middle region of the slope. They 
are somewhat narrow terraces, built of andesitic lava, 
their front presenting fairly well-laid walls rising to the 
height of a man or even higher. The four or five that 
are lowest down on the slope are almost on level ground, 
while the highest, which are very short, climb to the top ; 
usually, however, the slopes immediately below the tops 
are left without fortifications. Noticeable in the long 
terraces at certain places is the widening out like a 
bastion. On the south side of the mountain there are 
said to be a few fortifications of a character similar to 
those on the north side. Mexicans told me that on the 
tops were small corrals or enclosures formed by upright 
stones in the ground, which were probably abodes of the 
ancient people. Broken pieces of crude pottery, metates 
(grinding stones), lance-heads of hard stone, and beads 
made from sea-shells have been found and may yet be 
found on the terraces. There is a report from an evi- 
dently reliable Mexican source that in digging a well in 



142 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

the village, pieces of broken pottery were found twenty 
feet below the surface, water being reached at a depth of 
seventeen feet. 

In the Papagueria ancient fortifications of a similar 
kind to these are of common occurrence, especially in 
Sonora. On the road from Trincheras to Santa Ana 
they are seen on a low range called Arituaba and again 
in the neighborhood of Santa Ana. They are found on 
the road from Magdalena to Cerro Prieto, near the vil- 
lage of San Ignacio, near Altar and Caborca, near the 
Indian ranch, La Nariz, on the hill-tops near Tucson, 
Arizona, and at many other places. I have visited many 
of these, and while, as a rule, the idea of fortifications as 
well as habitations at the top in the shape of small en- 
closures of upright stones predominates, it seems as if 
here at Trincheras the extensive stone structures cannot 
be explained by having been fortifications solely, because 
the other side of the mountain would furnish an easy 
access for attack. Still less probable is it that agriculture 
was pursued on these narrow terraces, where people un- 
doubtedly lived, judging from the remains left of house- 
hold utensils. They here seem likely to have been of re- 
ligious importance, serving at the same time as places of 
refuge in case of need. This is also, I understand, the 
opinion of Professor W. J. McGee, who first called at- 
tention to these remarkable remains. Nowhere else in 
northern Mexico do the trincheras compare in magnitude 
to those seen here. The ruins of La Quemada in the 
State of Zacatecas are of a different character. 

It is useless to speculate as to what races built the for- 




^.Ji< Co >P^ 



ANTIQUITIES 143 

tifications at Trincheras beyond the certainty that they 
were constructed by ancient people who antedated the 
occupation of the country by the Papago. They have 
left poHshed stone axes and nicely executed stone imple- 
ments on village sites along the Altar River and even as 
far west as Sonoita, while in Arizona ancient artifacts may 
be found in the rest of the Papagueria, especially along 
the Santa Cruz and the Gila Rivers. Grooved stone axes 
are commonly encountered through this region, including 
Sonoita. On this point Professor W. A. Holmes informs 
me: "This is the most westerly occurrence of the grooved 
stone axe in this latitude, so far as recorded, if we except a 
few specimens reported from California, which, being 
so exceptional, may have been carried from some more 
easterly district." 

Broken pieces of pottery are numerous on the village 
sites, showing no high art, though apparently equal to that 
of modern pueblo make. Insignificant mounds, rem- 
nants of what once were houses or villages, may be met 
with here and there. Pictographs on the rocks are fre- 
quently seen through the region, often being found among 
the fortifications, and, with perhaps a few exceptions, 
they owe their existence to the same prehistoric people; 
they are of a similar character as the decorations on the 
earthen-ware of the region. 

Often in my travels in Mexico do I think of the valor 
of the early Spanish explorers and settlers — no distance 
too great for them, no region too inhospitable to traverse, 
no mountains too difficult of access! Valiant padres, 
escorted by soldiers or otherwise, travelled everywhere in 



144 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

their zeal to make converts, bringing cattle and horses 
and introducing new cereals and new methods of agri- 
culture. In the field of precious metals it is astounding 
how comprehensive were the discoveries of the early- 
Spanish settlers, their inborn instinct for metals being 
undeterred by any obstacle, and often receiving assistance 
from the natives. Sometimes in the wilds the traveller 
is surprised to meet with an old shaft sunk in a place 
where he was wondering perhaps whether he was not the 
first human being to pass. 

Such thoughts occupied me as I continued my journey- 
westward with the towns of Altar and Caborca as my first 
aim. In this north-western corner of Mexico, which 
must have appeared to the Spaniards very inhospitable on 
account of its scarcity of water, they discovered the great 
gold-bearing district around El Boludo; here are the 
great placer mines La Cienega and San Francisco, which 
the present generation has begun to work with renewed 
energy. Along what is called the Altar River, without 
running water most of the year, they found soil suitable 
for agriculture, and the town of Altar was founded as well 
as Caborca and other settlements that took the places of 
Papago rancherias. 

At a distance Altar has a certain oriental appearance 
on account of many tall date palms and the Moorish 
style apparent in the church tower. Most of the town, 
consisting of two long streets of adobe houses, can be 
dimly discerned between clusters of trees and the many 
milpas (cultivated fields) that surround it. Along the 
great, dry river bed are many thriving fields, which are, 



SALUBRIOUS CLIMATE 



145 



at first sight, rather surprising, but this is due to the fact 
that when the river, after heavy showers in the summer, 
is running with water for a few hours, it may be for a 
day, the water is diverted for irrigation. Besides, there 
is always water in the sand, this being more apparent 
further down the river at Pitiquito and Caborca, where 
water flows permanently for short distances and is in- 
geniously utilized for extensive fields of agriculture. We 
must also remember that we have now arrived in a re- 
gion where one good shower of rain in November is 
enough to ensure a good crop of wheat in the following 
May, no rain being needed except at the time of sowing. 
I was shown a date palm, over ninety feet high, which 
was said to be one hundred and fifty years old. Wood- 
peckers had made nests in its trunk. 

There are several wells or cisterns in the town. The 
climate, though very hot in the summer, is dry and 
extremely salubrious. No epidemic diseases thrive here. 
Altar is the seat of the prefect of the large district of the 
same name, which reaches as far west as the Colorado 
River, and the federal government has a mining agent 
here. I found an excellent jonda (small restaurant) op- 
posite the post-office; a weekly paper is published, and 
twice a week a stage runs to Santa Ana, bringing pas- 
sengers and mail as far as Caborca. There are several 
stores in Altar, but commerce and general business ac- 
tivity are less than in Caborca, situated about twenty 
miles further down the river, and my next stopping 
place. 

An up-to-date flour mill is found at this latter town, 



146 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

owned by Mexicanized Frenchmen. Another mill is 
being built in the neighboring small town, Pitiquito, 
which is surrounded by extensive wheat-fields, and where 
oranges thrive in abundance. The modern part of Ca- 
borca was removed in recent times to the present situa- 
tion, and is laid out ambitiously with streets as wide as 
those in St. Petersburg. Dr. K. Kitazawa, a Japanese 
physician, well spoken of by everybody, finds enough to 
do here and among the few scattered mines and ranches 
in the neighboring country. He did not know of any case 
of malaria here, but there was considerable tuberculosis 
among the Mexicans. There had been quite a number 
of cases of pneumonia and la grippe, which among the 
Papago and Yaqui Indians often develop into tubercu- 
losis. 

The church in the old part of Caborca is an unusu- 
ally beautiful building, noble in its architecture. Al- 
though the old mission of Caborca did not possess as 
many head of cattle as that of Cocospera, which at one 
time, according to J. F. Velasco, branded annually ten 
thousand head, still it was equally rich. Its wealth was 
derived from agriculture, and the bountiful crops of 
wheat, peas, beans, lentils, and Indian corn brought a 
profit by which the church was erected at a cost of sixty 
thousand pesos. 

Formerly the Altar River passed one-half mile fur- 
ther east, but its strong though short-lived waters changed 
their course, carrying away some of the bank on which 
the convent attached to the church rests, as well as a 
part of the building. '; The water is at present controlled 




The church in old Caborca 




Altar, seen from the west 




A RANCH west of AlTAR, SHOWING THE INDISPENSABLE WATER BARRELS 



AMERICAN FILIBUSTERS 147 

for agricultural interests, and the small stream which as 
a quiet brook passes back of the church represents the 
last of the Altar River, soon to disappear Into the sand. 

In this church it was that the population took refuge 
in 1857 to defend Itself against the American filibusters 
under the command of Captain H. A. Crabbe who In- 
vaded the pueblo. The presidente of Caborca accom- 
panied me up into the tower to show me the marks of 
the enemy's bullets. The Americans had entrenched 
themselves In a private dwelling opposite, maintaining 
probably a well-directed rifle fire. A Papago Indian 
saved the day for the Mexicans by Ingeniously attaching 
fire to an arrow which he shot from the tower onto the 
straw roof of the American fortress, thereby succeeding 
in Igniting it, which forced Its surrender. The Ameri- 
cans were all shot, for times were rough In those fron- 
tier days. 

The Papago Indians of Caborca number eight fam- 
ilies who live In the suburbs, most of them making their 
living by working for the Mexicans. Two families still 
possess nice, large fields where both maize and wheat 
are raised and where splendid specimens of the wild fig 
trees (Spanish, higuera) were conspicuous; this fruit is 
gathered twice a year and eaten fresh or dried. Other 
fruit trees here were granadas and peach trees, as well as 
the ever-present nopal cactus, which Is so useful to the 
natives, both stems and fruit being relished. There are 
great numbers of the giant cactus growing between here 
and the coast, but the fruit has not been gathered for 
several years. It appears that a feast at which sahuaro 



148 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

wine was drunk was dependent at Caborca on the kill- 
ing of the mule-deer (called by the Mexicans huro). At 
the dance which was executed in a different manner from 
that of the ordinary sahuaro festival, the men carried 
arrows, and the singing was accompanied by the medi- 
cine-man's rasping sticks. The same kind of festival is 
probably still in use among Indians west of the Altar 
River. 

The Indians at this place show the usual intelligence 
of their tribe. One young man who had been instructed 
in the knowledge of the alphabet by an American in 
Quitovac, taught himself how to read. He did not read 
fluently, but had almost mastered the art. Few of the 
Indians here can, however, be depended upon for work, 
as they are demoralized by the mescal brandy. They 
seem to employ their time between earning money and 
getting drunk therewith. They are no longer able to 
keep up their native feasts and are rapidly disappearing 
into the body of Mexican laborers. The same is the 
case with the remnants of Papagoes who live in the rest 
of the towns or settlements along the Altar River. 

My plan had been to fit out my expedition here, but 
the difficulty I experienced in trying to secure riding and 
pack animals, not to speak of men of the right sort, de- 
cided me to continue the journey by wagon. All traffic 
here is by wagon, and it is easy to proceed by this mode 
of transportation as far as Quitovac and Sonoita, two 
settlements of Mexicans with considerable Indian pop- 
ulations in the farthest inhabitable western part of the 
District of Altar. Even a wagon proved difficult to 



THE WAGON QUESTION 149 

procure. The carreros (wagon owners) all seemed to be 
away, though expected back. 

Through the kind assistance of the Japanese doctor 
I secured an acceptable interpreter, a pure-blooded Pa- 
pago, Clemente, and finally, through a prominent busi- 
ness man, a wagon was engaged, which was to be driven 
by its owner, Alberto Celaya, an intelligent Mexican who 
knew the country, having been born and raised at Qui- 
tovac. Caborca being the last place for mail, I should 
from now on have to depend for news of the outside world 
upon some obliging traveller who, going westward, might 
bring along my letters and newspapers. For the first 
days or weeks one misses sorely one's mail, especially if 
interested in knowing what takes place on the rest of the 
globe, but after a while one gets used to being without 
news, and on an expedition of this kind it is far the best 
plan to go heart and soul into what is being done; a 
world of one's own is created for the time being, rich in 
events through the conquering of obstacles, the visiting 
of new places full of interest and the observations to be 
made, besides being a source of much delight to any one 
who opens his heart to nature. 

After so much delay I was glad to get a start. About 
six miles from Caborca an old mezquite tree growing 
on the eastern bank of an arroyo is passed. It has the 
mark of a cross cut into the trunk, because this tree 
used to be the goal of the Papago ball players of Caborca; 
the judges are said to have been on horseback. A few 
hours later our wagon, which was guaranteed to be in 
first-class condition and looked it, suddenly gave us a 



I50 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

great surprise by breaking down. Clemente, the Pa- 
pago interpreter, tall and long-legged, immediately started 
on a fast run in order to overtake an empty wagon that 
five minutes before had passed us rather briskly on the 
llano. As he ran he fired three shots from his pistol to 
attract the driver's attention, and after an hour or more 
brought the wagon back. The goods were transferred 
and Clemente and I made our camp near Tajitos, a small 
gold mine, until our driver returned from Caborca with 
a new wagon, which he had managed to borrow. 

We passed Norias, a gold placer mine, where a small 
number of Mexicans and one Indian family live. The 
Papagoes, both father and son, had discovered mines. 
The father's discovery had once been thought important, 
and he had received four thousand dollars for it, which 
was spent long ago in the usual light-hearted fashion of 
the miner. The old man, humorous and frank, con- 
soled himself with the fact that he owed nothing and 
owned a wagon. Westward of this placer mine among 
the hills toward Cozon are many now abandoned gold- 
fields that yielded short-lasting but rich harvests to those 
engaged in "dry washing" the surface. Bonancita, San 
Perfecto, San Luis, and Hornitos are familiar names to 
the few who know the history of this part of the Dis- 
trict of Altar. 

At the Ranch Garambullo (the name of a thorny bush) 
are living six or seven Mexican families whose water 
supply is a dam which is not sufficiently large to serve 
beyond a limited time, when they are compelled to leave 
for other parts. Only one family, that of Sr. Santos 



SPRING CACTI 151 

Ortega, remains all the year around, and he and his son 
gave intelligent information concerning conditions in the 
arid region. He hauled water in barrels from the well at 
Norias, which was mostly for household use. The cattle 
in that western region of the Altar district do not, as is 
well known, trouble much about drinking water, the 
juicy cacti supplying largely their needs both as regards 
pasture and water. Different kinds of opuntias are their 
favorites, both the nopal cactus, with flattened stems, and 
in particular the cylindrical forms which are comprised 
under the Mexican name choya. There is probably no 
plant in the desert that has such formidable spines as the 
choya blanca {opuntia fulgida), which is covered with so 
many light-colored spines that the whole plant appears 
whitish, and hence its name. It is dangerous to approach 
them, as they even pierce thick shoes, and the spiny joints 
seem to spring at you before they are touched. The 
spines have to be removed no matter how pressed for time 
one may be, for they are very painful and enter deeper 
and deeper. Cattle do not pay any attention to these 
terrible joints, but horses try to get rid of them by kick- 
ing or stamping violently. Dogs are much annoyed by 
them and bravely bite them off. 

On one occasion my driver, frantically chasing one of 
his mules in attempts to lasso it, ran unawares against such 
a choya and was speared to a terrible extent. He stopped 
paralyzed with agony, for the joints had entered his left 
arm as far as the elbow; his hand was literally clutching 
one which was deeply embedded in his flesh, and several 
were clinging to his back; the slightest movement would 



152 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

augment the intense pain which may best be imagined 
by any one who has been stung by one spine alone. 
With sticks I removed the torturing instruments bit by 
bit, while he trembled from the excruciating pain. A 
person not accustomed to these spines and of less fortitude 
would have been in a dangerous condition. I bathed his 
hand with arnica and, strange to say, it was not swol- 
len. The pain disappeared as soon as the spines were 
taken out. He then set a match to the choya, destroy- 
ing in this way all its spines, and went for the mule 
again, but this time he was less violent in his treatment of 
the animal. 

Incredible as it may sound, these cacti are not de- 
spised as food by cattle or by the pronghorn antelope, 
although the former do not resort to them in places 
where the other kind grows, which the Mexicans call 
"nude," choya pelon, on account of its fewer though 
scarcely less terrible spines. Its color is a darker green 
and it reaches sometimes a height of ten feet. This 
choya {opuntia mamillata) furnishes for at least three 
months of the year the staple food as well as the only 
drink of the cattle of that part of the District of Altar. 
Near the mine El Plomo may be observed the largest 
number of these plants, covering a space some four or 
five miles long and three broad. Palo verde, palo fierro, 
and mezquites grow alongside of the choyas and, when 
their leaves appear, furnish another food supply. In the 
stretch of country that encloses, roughly speaking, Cozon, 
Garambullo, and El Plomo, it would, according to Sr. 
Ortega, be possible to bring together from three to four 




Cow EATING CHOYA 



Cow SHOWING \-ESTIGES OF HER 
PAVORITE FEEDING GROUNDS 




Choya {Opitntia mamillata), relished as food 



BY THE CATTLE 



CACTUS-EATING CATTLE 153 

hundred head of cattle that "do not drink water," to use 
the expression in vogue out there. 

A cow making her meals from these plants is an in- 
teresting sight. The thick joint is carefully bitten off 
and brought into the mouth; turning the head upward, 
she works the sharp bit around with her tongue, chewing 
until after two or three minutes it slips down, and then 
she begins anew, evidently enjoying her meal in spite of 
the pain from the thorns to which she has grown accus- 
tomed. The easily detached cactus joints, which, like 
gigantic burrs, fasten themselves to the head and fore- 
part of her body, are allowed to drop off by themselves 
after suppuration takes place in the course of four or five 
days. In that country the cattle are almost always thus 
decorated and they do not seem to suffer any incon- 
venience. They are in that way instrumental in dis- 
seminating this opuntia, sometimes at fifty miles' distance 
from the starting point, and through their digestive organs 
they scatter the seeds of the mezquite from one place to 
another. 

All who live in the desert region assert that there are 
cattle which do not drink unless it rains. This seems 
to be the case in spite of the fact that many months, even 
half a year or more, may elapse between rains. Of this 
remarkable adaptation to environment on the part of 
domesticated animals, especially of cattle, I gained a 
fairly complete knowledge during the many months I 
spent in that arid region. In the middle of April, 1910, 
I again had occasion to pass Garambullo. During the 
preceding winter water in the dams ran short in December, 



154 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

and since then the cattle had not drunk water, but they 
were In good condition and quite fat. The daytime they 
would spend in the shade of the trees, but at night and 
early in the morning they would feed. In this manner 
they would maintain themselves until the next shower, 
which more than likely would not come before July. 

Sr. Ortega, at Garambullo, is also known to have 
milked three or four cows without giving them water to 
drink, and in regard to this he gave the following inter- 
esting information: After his dam had dried up at the 
end of March, 1909, he gave the calves only water every 
three or four days. The cows, although drinking no 
water, yielded over one litre of milk each every morning 
until the middle of June. Both cheese and butter were 
made, and the milk from the cows that eat choya has the 
reputation of being very good. He assured me that, even 
if driven to the dam, the cows did not care to drink. 

The conditions in the sand dunes near the coast are, 
if possible, even more remarkable. Here one or two 
species of plants which the scanty winter rains call into 
existence serve the same purpose as the choya. In this 
connection the beautiful Oenothera trichocalyx, called by 
the Mexicans herba salada, should be mentioned espe- 
cially; this is extraordinarily green and juicy and much 
relished by cattle and horses. As soon as the uncertain 
rains of winter have made los medanos (sand dunes) 
*' green," as the Mexicans say, the cattle and horses are 
driven there and remain three months, from February to 
the end of May, absolutely without water. The cattle 
do not gain flesh, but sometimes die from excess of fat. 



FAT CATTLE 155 

Some have been known to yield two hundred and fifty 
pounds of fat. Unfortunately that country cannot sup- 
port large herds, but even the horses at that time suffer 
no inconvenience from absence of water to drink. 



CHAPTER X 

ADVENTURE WITH A COYOTE— UNUSUAL AFTERGLOW— A METEOR 
—A GREAT AND FERTILE VALLEY— THE CUSTOM OF NIARI— 
LA N ARIZ— THE PAPAGOES OF QUITO VAC 

One day, shortly after noon, as our wagon travelled 
leisurely along, we had a curious experience with a coyote, 
which made its appearance in the road, one hundred 
feet behind us. The driver was ordered to stop the 
wagon and my companions were asked to be muy si- 
lenciosos, in order to give me an opportunity with my ever- 
ready kodak. The coyote approached us calmly, moving 
around among the bushes and sizing us up. He walked 
across the road and, much to my astonishment, turned his 
paces toward us. 

''Perhaps he has rabies; better kill him," said Alberto 
in a low voice. 

"Just wait and keep quiet," I answered as the coyote 
came nearer and nearer among the scanty trees and 
bushes. He passed us within twenty feet, a thin palo 
verde separating us, then stopped for a moment. My 
terrier, which, on account of the heat, was in the habit of 
never paying much attention to anything during the day- 
time, was lying near the wagon, apparently asleep. The 
stranger, a beautiful specimen and in fine condition, in- 
quisitively approached the dog within ten feet, then 

stopped again and looked at us. Probably the dog's 

156 



AN AUDACIOUS COYOTE 157 

white color seemed odd, it being so distinct from that of 
other canines of the region; perhaps he even found it diffi- 
cult to classify correctly the motionless body curved up 
in a ball before him in the grass. He lifted up, dog- 
fashion, a hind leg, assuming the same defiant air that 
dogs do when about to meet for the first time. He over- 
reached himself in his boldness, however, for a slight noise 
against a low branch of the palo verde, as well as a waft 
of an unwelcome scent, aroused my dog to instant action. 
Quick as lightning he rose and gave chase, the coyote 
taking to his legs of course, but in a leisurely kind of a 
gallop, which soon made my dog tired of what he evidently 
considered a useless pursuit. I was able to get several fair 
pictures of the coyote while he was in the neighborhood. 
"How fat he was! He must have eaten many melons 
and watermelons in the temporales!" my men began dis- 
cussing. Perhaps good living had made him careless and 
lazy. These animals are indeed destructive to the products 
of dry farming; not only are they fond of eating these 
fruits and the green corn, but they destroy more than 
they eat, biting into melons that are ripe, perhaps fifteen 
or twenty in a night. 

In order to repair the faulty wheels of our wagon we 
had to call at the Campana gold mine, where the super- 
intendent, with the usual mechanical ability of the native- 
born American, soon put us right. This mine is doing 
development work and is finding good values of ore at a 
depth of six hundred feet. Usually the gold mines of 
the Altar district are blamed for having mere surface 
values. According to the manager, the gold values of the 



158 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

district have been misjudged because the mines have not 
been worked deep enough. 

On Tuesday, November 2, we observed an afterglow of 
the sun, unusual even for that land of light, air, and color. 
After sunset we had passed the unattractive looking and 
abandoned mining camp. El Tren. At dusk, as we 
continued our journey toward Zohi, I noticed light reddish 
sunlight on the ridge, not much more than three hundred 
feet high, which the road follows for several miles. Less 
than the upper half of the range was covered by the light, 
the lower extension line of which was horizontal. The 
light, gradually fading, lasted for five minutes. When it 
first appeared my watch showed it to be 5.45 p. m. Even if 
my watch were fast, the sun must have set fifteen minutes 
before the phenomenon appeared. For comparison, I 
may mention that it was 6.27 a. m. by my watch when the 
sun rose next morning over the same low range. 

It should be noted that even the night was lighter 
than we had expected; we had no difficulty in following 
the road, although during the last fifteen or twenty 
minutes it grew very uarK, not, however, pitch-dark, 
and we arrived at Zoiii at 6.45 p. m. I found a party of 
Mexican engineers, as well as a young Mexican geolo- 
gist, Sr. Y. S. Bonillas, camped on this more or less 
abandoned ranch. They all thought that my watch had 
the right time. 

The engineers were surveying the boundary line of 
an immense tract of land which two enterprising young 
women of Kansas City, Missouri, had bought, the min- 
ing land being excepted. The territory Includes a great 



A BRILLIANT SPECTACLE 159 

slice of the north-western part of the District of Altar 
along the boundary line. Its delineation had already 
occupied the engineers several months. In six weeks 
they expected to finish their work, which would end at 
Hacienda de Santo Domingo near Sonoita. No doubt 
there are, as I later saw, large tracts of excellent agri- 
cultural land that can be made profitable by irrigation, 
but the speculation seems to me slightly premature. 

At Rancho de Macias, on November 5, in the after- 
noon, a splendid meteor was observed. The engineers 
and the geologist had promised to dine with me that even- 
ing in return for hospitality that I had enjoyed at their 
hands. It was after dusk, but not quite night yet, and 
I was unpacking some Norwegian delicacies which were 
to serve as my piece de resistance, when suddenly loud 
shouts of admiration were heard, "Mira, mira! no mas!" 
As I instinctively turned my eyes over our wagon toward 
the north I beheld a large resplendent orb, with a long 
tail, passing slowly and majestically over the heavens, 
roughly speaking from west to east. 

The color was bluish white a. the start, and the size 
appeared as one-sixth the size of the full moon; the un- 
usually long tail appeared as if it might be six inches 
long, if seen near by. To our eyes the meteor mov^d 
so slowly that it might easily have been photographed. 
It grew smaller and smaller, both body and tail, the 
latter disappearing first, when the globe itself, now yel- 
lowish red, burst into two pieces, the smaller one going 
upward. Perhaps a quarter of the horizon was passed. 
The meteor covered fifty degrees, calculated by compass, 



i6o NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

during the time seen by me. I caught sight of it at 
about fifty degrees from north to west, and it disappeared 
in the north. When first seen it was a httle lower than 
thirty degrees above the horizon, travelHng shghtly up- 
ward, then downward, and disappearing from eight to 
ten degrees above the horizon, which from our vantage 
point consisted of low hills toward the north. It was 
the most brilliant spectacle of its kind that I have seen. 
When we began dinner at seven o'clock, Venus was 
near the horizon, and we all agreed that the meteor had 
been at least the size of the complete light of Venus at 
that hour. Later I learned from the newspapers that 
the same phenomenon had been observed at Altar. At 
Sonoita it appeared to Sr. Isauro Quiroz as if "it disap- 
peared twenty meters above the horizon, first sending 
one piece to the north-west and another to the south- 
east, the latter dissolving into thirty or forty red and 
blue sparks, and as resplendent as the sun." Sr. Bonil- 
las, the geologist, some time before, had seen one of the 
same size at three o'clock in the afternoon at Nogales. 

At a distance the coloring of the quite imposing 
mountain El Durasno as well as of the near-by Sierra de 
la Manteca, appears different from the rest of the moun- 
tain ranges, having a slightly light brown tinge. But 
Sr. Bonillas, who ascended El Durasno, found the for- 
mation to be as usual and brought back specimens of 
tufa and rhyolite with much crystalline grain in it. We 
managed to drive our wagon on a side track, which runs 
west of El Durasno past some temporarily abandoned 
ranches. Here in the first week of November, at an ele- 



GOLD-BEARING VEINS i6i 

vation of more than three thousand feet among shelter- 
ing hills, were several plants in bloom, and much of the 
grass nearest to the soil was still green. The cicadas 
sang during the night. 

Water is found here in a small arroyo two feet below 
the surface. Also a water-hole had of late been opened 
and many birds were about. There are two large gold- 
bearing veins here. Some development work had been 
done on one two years ago, and the other one, which 
seemed to be less known, if at all, appeared very inter- 
esting. We camped near a deserted small ranch. At 
dusk four pigs that had been left to look after themselves 
came along, bound for the corral, inside of which they 
walked around several times as if preparing to camp, 
but they finally continued their way. I saw them moving 
around in circles among the bushes, apparently unable 
to reach a decision. Clemente thought they would most 
likely camp in the deserted house, for they were mansos 
(tame). Every three days the pigs go to drink; my 
companions calculated that their search for water would 
cover at least thirty miles in going and coming. 

After some forty miles' travel over the gravelly, un- 
fertile, and somewhat hilly country that began a few 
miles from Arivaipa, we descended gradually into the 
broad, flat valley that stretches for eighty miles from the 
neighborhood of Comaru in a west by north direction to 
Sonoita, continuing as far as Agua Salada. Low moun- 
tain ranges surround it toward the north, rising to some- 
what higher elevations from La Nariz, westward, under 
the names of Sierra de la Nariz, Sierra de Santa Rosa, 



i62 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

and the Ajo range. On the south side the most strik- 
ing mountain range is Sierra de Cubabi. This great 
abra or valley, like the others, of recent gravel formation 
and rising slightly toward the base of the mountains, 
contains in its middle course a fine detritus of much fer- 
tility. To be sure, there is no water here except the short 
river of Sonoita. But both Mexicans and Indians find a 
profitable field for dry farming, depending solely on the 
few showers of the summer, and without irrigating. 

The first summer rancheria we passed, which be- 
longed to Mexicans, had all the appearances of a recent 
harvest of plenty, both of maize and squashes, and we 
bought superb watermelons here; still there was not even 
a dam, drinking water being hauled from Banori, nine 
miles distant to the east. When the harvest is gathered, 
this ranch, Bajio del Alcalde, is abandoned until next 
summer's scanty rains bring the families back. There 
is a similar temporary occupation of Mexicans at Tem- 
porales, farther west, and there are three summer 
rancherias of Papago Indians in this fertile stretch of 
country. The permanent settlement at Sonoita is the 
most important occupation, but in an extensive valley 
like this only a most insignificant part of the soil has 
yet been utilized. Any one who has seen the marvellous 
changes brought about in the arid regions of the Gila 
River through irrigation will easily understand the un- 
usual opportunity presented here for agriculture on a 
large scale. The middle of November is the customary 
time for the harvest, which consists mainly of maize, 
beans, and different melons. 



/ 




Feeding on mezquite lea\'es 




PaPAGO WOilEN BRINGING IN WOOD, La NaRIZ 



AGRICULTURAL CHANCES 163 

There should be no great difficulty in making dams, 
and still less in sinking artesian wells. I was told of a 
very convenient place for a large dam in the low range 
north of Temporales, near the boundary line, three or 
four miles away. This valley averages eight or ten 
miles in width; a few miles east of Sonoita low moun- 
tains draw it together, but below that settlement it 
widens again. Only the middle part, at a width of one 
or two miles, probably more at certain places, is ser- 
viceable. There may be found a few sandy patches in 
certain localities, but, taking it all in all, this extensive 
stretch of tillable soil would be well worth investigating 
by people interested in agricultural pursuits, and one 
may expect at no distant date the reclamation of what 
is now practically a wilderness. 

At the first Indian rancheria which we passed here, 
we found that some of the inhabitants had just returned 
from a salt expedition to the Salina de San Jorge on the 
Gulf. There were four full loads of salt lying scattered 
outside of one of the houses. The salt had been placed 
in discarded flour sacks, two being carried inside of a 
packing bag of mescal fibre, which is slung over the 
back of the animal and constitutes a load. Coarse grass 
is wrapped around each sack for protection, and the bag 
when in use rests on two rolls of grass, which serve the 
Papago as pack or riding-saddle, as the case may be. 

This summer rancheria as well as the next, called 
Represa de Enrique, is quite populous. At the latter 
place the Indians possess a large dam. Our arrival 
caused much excitement at first, due to a misapprehen- 



i64 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

sion, the Indians taking us to be celadores or mounted 
inspectors from the Sasabe custom-house, who at un- 
certain and mostly long intervals make tours along the 
border line. There are two hundred miles from Sasabe 
to the Colorado River, but the inspectors seldom or 
never go beyond Sonoita. The Indians seemed relieved 
at being correctly informed and were kind and gentle. 
They no doubt understand Spanish, but if spoken to 
would answer only in Papago. Two kinds of small 
wading birds were noticed at the dam and in the morn- 
ing up to noon the coyotes would fearlessly come to drink. 
Some Mexican cowboys passing by lassoed one and then 
let it go again. 

On the day of our departure we passed one of the 
fine fields which the Papagoes have here. The maize 
had been stored away, but two huge heaps of squashes 
were piled on the field ; near one of them sat two women, 
cutting them up into long ribbons. When nearly dry 
these are folded up in convenient bundles and kept for 
winter use. There was only one small jacal in the mid- 
dle of this field of plenty, and thither I directed my steps 
to buy some watermelons. Here also was a woman mak- 
ing squash ribbons, great numbers of which were hang- 
ing, festoon-like, to dry from the branches of a tree 
outside. 

All these women came from other parts of the country 
and were preparing to take away as much as they wished 
in accordance with the ancient custom which prevails at 
harvest time of those who have sharing with those who 
are less fortunate. If a Papago is known to have been 



ANCIENT HOSPITALITY 165 

successful in his harvest, he will be visited by friends, 
relatives, and many others who have no claim on him 
other than the fact that they are Papago; they come to 
get niari, as they call it, many remaining with him for 
days. He is bound by custom to give presents of agri- 
cultural products to every one who comes. Some year 
when he has had a bad crop, he, in turn, may resort to 
niari. 

At the locality where I found myself at present, Indians 
will in the. season come for this purpose from as far away 
as Bisani and Quitovac. Nobody is refused, for the cus- 
tom is binding and absolute. With the inroads of civili- 
zation and the accompanying disintegration of the tribe, 
many families are unable to practice agriculture at all; 
these and others, at harvest time, go visiting and return 
with their donkeys and mules laden with agricultural 
gifts. Also in May, when the wheat is being cut, the 
Papagoes gather from many parts at the places of those 
who have anything; they help in harvesting, but receive 
rewards even if they do not, according to the dictates of 
ancient hospitality. Among most of the Papagoes of 
Arizona the custom of niari has died out, though these 
natives are always hospitable and in some regions place 
food before the visitor even if the family is not eating. 
*'To arrive at a Papago house is like coming to one's rela- 
tives," said Alberto, my driver. 

The woman who was sitting outside of the hut was a 
widow from Quitovac and had no field. She had been 
visiting the houses of the rancheria for a month, helping 
the families a little by grinding corn on the metate, and 



i66 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

having a delightful time meeting friends and enjo3ang 
the gifts of autumn. "When she decides to go home she 
will receive loads of provisions of the new year," remarked 
my interpreter. One of the principal men of Quitovac 
was making a round of calls for the same purpose. He 
had only a small field himself, for at Quitovac there is 
much competition with the Mexicans, but, as an Indian 
said, "he has only to sit down; all is coming to him." 

On our arrival at La Nariz, Thursday, November 
II, a cold, disagreeable wind from south south-west was 
blowing over the llano, after dark changing to westerly, 
whereupon it suddenly became northerly and warmer, the 
sky clearing of some threatening clouds in the south. In 
the small hours of the morning I awoke, to my surprise, 
from light rain falling on my tent, which lasted for half 
an hour. I had made friends among the Indians at the 
last place visited, and their compatriots here did their 
best to be obliging. The next day all the men gathered 
outside of my tent, and we had a five hours' talk on matters 
of interest to both sides. La Nariz is an Indian rancheria, 
its name being derived from a near-by mountain which, 
from a certain point of view, presents the profile of a 
human face with a well-marked nose. 

There were only five families here living in rectangular 
houses of ocotillo poles laid horizontally and plastered 
with mud. I found them pleasant to deal with and 
anxious to preserve what there was left to them of ancient 
beliefs and customs. The soul of this endeavor was an 
elderly medicine-man, the principal man of the place. 
Two medicine lodges were noticed here, one of them 



IN THE MEDICINE LODGE 167 

having had to be abandoned because a Papago woman 
during a rainy night had slept there. According to the 
notions of many primitive people, she was at the time 
unclean, and became the cause of the building of a new 
lodge. At the native cemetery many makai have been 
interred who on feast occasions are invited to take part 
with the living. 

The old man's son had married a woman who was 
reputed to be a prophet — a female makai, with whom the 
principal men from Quitovac and other localities at times 
consulted. She looked about thirty years old and had 
been totally blind for three years. According to her own 
account, she had previous to her blindness suffered for a 
year from violent headache and pain in the eyes. I have 
seen Indians made blind through small-pox, their eyes 
covered in a similar way with large whitish spots over the 
iris. In the house of this couple were held the nightly 
meetings that usually took place at the new medicine 
lodge, as the latter had been temporarily profaned by 
the interference of an ox that had browsed and torn the 
straw of which its dome-shaped roof was composed. 

I proposed to my Papago interpreter, Clemente, that 
we should attend that evening, as nothing worse could 
happen to us than to be told that our presence was not 
desired. A brisk fire was burning as we entered, making 
the interior look attractive though there was no outlet for 
the smoke except through the door. Several mats had 
been spread on the earthen floor around the fire for the 
participants to sit upon. Two were placed for Clemente 
and me, on which we immediately seated ourselves, thus 



i68 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

being able to breathe freer in the lower stratum of air. As 
soon as all were seated, including members of the family, 
the old medicine-man took the word. Without further 
formality he began to tell about the creation of the world 
by Elder Brother litoi and about the deluge. After 
having dwelt on these themes for half an hour or more, he 
asked my interpreter if I believed the world was created 
as the Papago believe, or if I entertained the belief of the 
Mexicans. Clemente very diplomatically answered that 
he had never asked me of my beliefs. The lore of the 
tribe arouses strange feelings even in a civilized Papago, 
for an Indian is nothing if not religious, and Clemente 
became eloquent, confessing at the start that he, having 
been brought up among Mexicans, knew little of his own 
religion. A man of position from Quitovac, on a visit to 
La Nariz, expressed his opinion that surely all nations 
have different religions and different gods, and the Papa- 
goes were contented to have theirs, litoi. 

Among the Indians who were serviceable here was a 
man of slightly darker complexion than usual, but tall 
and of very fine appearance, as evidenced in his name, 
Rainbow. His family were also nice and in his house I 
felt at home, changing films for my camera in the cool 
shade of the dwelling and even photographing the in- 
mates. With him I visited ancient fortifications on the 
dark looking hill, of igneous origin, hardly four hundred 
feet high, which gave La Nariz its name. Where the 
trenches begin, about half-way up, there is a large stone as 
high as a man's chest; on its flat top were small artificial 
excavations in a row, each looking like the inside of a cup, 




PiCTOGRAPHS NEAR La ^ARIZ 



i'lCruGRAPHS NEAR CABORCA 



The nose of the rock which gave La Nariz its name 



EXCESSIVE MEAT-EATING 169 

only more shallow. On the rocks were pictographs of 
the same kind and design as may be seen elsewhere In the 
district, as, for instance, near Caborca. Turkey vultures 
have a breeding place on the top ; according to my guide, 
who has seen the young here, these birds make no nests. 
Inside of the houses of the Indians in these parts, I 
often noticed skins of the peccary, called in Mexico java- 
lin, the meat of which Is much rehshed by the Papagoes; 
also skins of the mountain-sheep, deer, and lynx were 
seen. The Papagoes are exceedingly fond of meat. One 
day at La Nariz a young steer was killed. Generous 
parts of the carcass were distributed to those who had 
helped to butcher It, and everybody in the afternoon, 
including ourselves, was invited to come and ''eat meat." 
The meat was broiled on coals, each person preparing 
his portion for himself, and this feasting was kept up 
until eleven o'clock that night. The participants actually 
arose earlier than usual, long before sunrise, to broil more 
meat and continue the banquet. Nothing else was con- 
sumed, not even tortillas, and in the afternoon very little of 
the beast was left. 

At the so-called Temporales, where Mexicans from 
Sonolta and Quitovac practise dry farming, besides the 
usual forms of Indian corn, a kind of maize that matures 
in about two months is cultivated. It is called maiz de los 
Tumas, is white in color, and the ears are small. I saw 
some that had been planted In the beginning of August 
and which was ripe by the middle of October. The rains 
rarely fall here before August. Frost usually appears the 
1st or 2d of November. This year it came on November 



lyo NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

14, and sometimes it comes as early as the middle of 
October. However, frost does not injure maize that has 
reached maturity. 

Before proceeding to Sonoita, which is only twenty- 
three miles from here, I made a trip south to Quitovac, 
where I expected to find mail-matter awaiting me. There 
used to be some gold mining here, but the houses that 
make up the only street are now mostly abandoned. Two 
or three Mexican families live there and a small store is 
maintained. The main population consists of Indians, 
who live all around, some of them being possessors of cattle 
and a few having small fields. It grew dark before we 
arrived, and while we were arranging our camp in the 
quiet evening a young Indian rode up like a whirlwind as 
fast as his horse could gallop, stopping as suddenly as he 
had appeared. This Is the Mexican way of " showing off" 
or making oneself conspicuous, and was distinctly dis- 
couraging to one who was looking for primitive people. 
My two kodaks were lying on the ground and miraculously 
escaped his horse's hoofs. 

The principal attraction of Quitovac Is the sufficiency 
of water which at all times oozes forth In various small 
springs at the edge of the low mesa, so-called. The latter 
is a deposit of calcareous matter which a quarter of a 
mile wide stretches behind the houses for a mile and a 
half In the general direction from north-west to south-east. 
Fossil remains have been found here, as well as at a ranch, 
Represa, five leagues east, where In making a dam some 
large animal was encountered five feet below the surface. 
Also at Banori and other places "bones of giants" have 




Height, 6..S ctm. 




Height, 1 1.4 ctm. 

Ancient pottery vessels of the Papagueria. Excavated by Papago 
Indians near Fresnal, Arizona 



THE ANIMAL OF QUITO VAC 171 

been found which might bear palaeontological investiga- 
tion. At Quitovac Mexicans as well as Indians have dug 
about a dozen small ditches, the longest twenty feet, into 
the calcareous embankment for the purpose of giving the 
water freer egress. Judging from these cuts, the deposit, 
or mesa, rests here on fine sand at a depth of from six to 
eight feet only from the surface. 

The Indians have a fabulous tradition that where this 
whitish deposit now rests there was once a square lake, 
in the middle of which lived a big animal that ate people. 
What kind of animal it was is uncertain for, as my inform- 
ant, the oldest man there, said, "those who knew are 
dead." It was able to smell people at a great distance, 
and when travellers came that way they never returned to 
their homes, for they were eaten by it. In this emergency 
the Papago finally went to the cave where litoi lived in the 
Black Mountain (Pinacate) and asked him to help them, 
litoi said he would come and on the road he made ready 
his weapons (vauk), which were of hard stone, dark in 
color, and very large. He made four of them, and they 
were sharp and thin, being a kind of dagger or javelin. 

"If the animal kills me, you shall see red clouds to- 
morrow, but if I kill the animal, you shall see white 
clouds," Elder Brother said as he entered the fray. The 
animal swallowed him, but he cut out its heart and made 
his way out through its flesh, and it sank to the bottom. 
Next day white clouds appeared around the lake, one at 
each corner of the world, and the people understood that 
the animal had been killed. Ever since the mesa has re- 
mained white, like the clouds. 



1/2 NEW TRAILS IN AlEXICO 

The weapons mentioned in this story were probably 
made from obsidian which still serves as material for the 
making of arrow-points for ceremonial use. The obsidian 

is worked with a bone. 

My camp was on the small plain on which the medi- 
cine lodge is situated, near an unusually well-grown mez- 
quite tree, the shade of which is enjoyed by participants 
in the feasts that are given. In the evening spent here 
I could hear talking from the medicine lodge, but the 
old man, Miguel, who is in charge, complained much of 
the indifference of his countrymen, the younger genera- 
tion never coming any more to the counsel house. The 
Indians here, in fact, are much spoiled by Mexicans and 
mescal brandy, and present to-day little of interest to the 
investigator. The same remark applies to the Indians 
of Sonoita, though in a lesser degree. A few, just a few, 
of the Mexicans exploit the Indians for their own pur- 
poses. It happens even that they ingratiate themselves by 
giving good advice — good for their own pockets — charg- 
ing the confiding Indian for the advice. On the other 
hand, it must be said that the Papagoes of Sonora are 
in general treated with much more consideration than in 
Arizona. The Mexicans look upon them more as their 
equals, and the result is that the so-called civilized Indian 
is noticeably more polite in his manners in Sonora than 
in Arizona. 

The great annual harvest feast for which Quitovac Is 
famous, and to which people congregate from all parts of 
the Papagueria, is still kept up. It is performed in the 
month of August on a stretch of level ground half a mile 



THE QUITO VAC FESTIVAL 173 

distant from the lodge. Mexicans who have seen it de- 
scribe it as a gorgeous affair. Its first object is rain, and 
then the preservation of good relations with litoi, Elder 
Brother and Creator. The sacred paraphernalia are after- 
ward put away in some distant cave. The feast is already 
on the decline and as soon as the old man in charge at 
present dies, it will no doubt pass into oblivion. 



CHAPTER XI 

SONOITA, AN OASIS OF THE DESERT— ITS PLEASANT POPULATION 
—LESSONS OF THE SONOITA RIVER— ANTIQUITIES— A LUNAR 
RAINBOW— PRIMITIVE GOLD MINING— PREVALENCE OF HYDRO- 
PHOBIA—UNUSUAL REFRACTION OF SUNLIGHT 

SoNOiTA Is a larger place than Quitovac and of more 
importance. This settlement, a short day's distance from 
the latter, has the unique distinction of being situated on 
a small river, which, making its origin here, runs for a 
few miles south-west before disappearing in the desert. 
It is called the Sonoita River and in reality originates far 
from there in Arizona, near Cajilon, north of the Quijotoa 
Range, gathering also water from the Santa Rosa valley 
and the west side of the Baboquivari Range. These nearly 
always dry watercourses unite and pass La Nariz where, 
after making a turn, the "river" takes a curious short 
course through hard rock without sand and popularly 
called a barranco, perhaps ten feet deep and less than 
double that wide. From there to Sonoita the casual ob- 
server would probably remain ignorant of the greater part 
of its course until it plunges forth from underneath an 
accumulation of gravelly debris as a small sparkling 
stream, twelve feet wide and one foot deep, which pro- 
duces a veritable oasis in the desert. In this stream are 
found two species of the small fish popularly called min- 
nows. One, algansea tincella, which is six inches long, is 
common in the lakes about the City of Mexico and other 

174 



1 



THE FIRST WHITES IN SONOITA 175 

waters of that republic. The other, cyprinodon macu- 
larius, which grows only to a length of two and a half 
inches, is common in the waters of the desert from 
Nevada to Sonora. 

The first white man to arrive here was the enterprising 
Jesuit, Father Kino, in the year 1698. A mission was, 
however, not established here until about fifty years later, 
and it lasted but a short time, as it was destroyed during 
the Pima revolt, 1751. The present inhabitants of Sono- 
ita know little or nothing about this. Ruins of the small 
church may be observed on approaching Sonoita from the 
east, in the shape of two low, rather insignificant, mounds, 
the smaller of which lies a short distance to the north of 
the other. Mr. M. G. Levy, of Ajo, Arizona, conceived 
the idea that gold might have been stored here, which the 
priests in early times could easily have secured from the 
Indians who then knew nothing of its value. He secured 
permission to excavate at the site in 1907. The founda- 
tions were partly cleared, showing thick walls made from 
adobe. The floor was of hard, whitish earth. Besides a 
few skeletons, one of them with an abundance of blond 
hair, the only thing brought to light was a small stone disk 
which had three colors and which was of unknown use. 
An old Indian woman, who lives on the American side of 
the boundary line, declares that the cattle and horses which 
she owns have descended from those that the Papagoes 
took from the monks. According to Papago tradition, 
the Indians killed the priest or priests, burned the church 
and the convent, and took possession of what was of 
value to them, chief of which were, of course, the domestic 



176 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

animals. This is evidently in accordance with facts, and 
among the ruined walls the occurrence of coal is noticeable. 

The present Mexican settlement of Sonoita dates 
only from the middle of the last century, about the time 
of the discovery of gold in California, the first settlers 
having come from Zoiii. There are over a hundred Mexi- 
cans all told in the oasis to-day, making an easy living by 
irrigating their patches of field, though little is sold, for 
there is no market for their products. Mineral salts, which 
are included in the Spanish word salitre, occur at certain 
places, giving the agriculturist some trouble; its chief 
constituent is evidently carbonate of soda. Nevertheless 
the range of food plants grown here, which includes 
wheat, barley, oats, potatoes, and onions, though raised on 
a small scale, is wide. Lima trees give excellent fruit as 
also do granadas, peach, and fig trees. Maize and beans 
yield two crops a year, and peas, peanuts, and tomatoes 
propagate themselves without being planted; sugar-cane, 
grapes, melons, and sweet potatoes do well, and dates 
ripen. Alfalfa is also raised, A specialty of the place is 
honey which is abundant and cheap; it is often used in- 
stead of sugar, and a kind of dulce is made from it. 

A considerable number of Indians — not quite a hun- 
dred all told — who also have nice fields and water enough 
for irrigation, live about a mile lower down. They are 
contented and generally hold their own with the Mexi- 
cans. With many of the Indian children it was noticeable 
that the four upper front teeth were chocolate-colored, no 
doubt on account of the water. It appears that the 
coloring does not take place until the second teeth come. 



A CHARMING PLACE 177 

Some of the Mexican children were disfigured in the 
same way. 

On my first day spent here, toward the end of Novem- 
ber, a pleasantly warm, gentle breeze blew from the south- 
west, and there was a delightful southern atmosphere, 
full of sunshine, peace, and contentment, about the place. 
I had occasion to know Sonoita well, for it became in a 
way my head-quarters for half a year, while making 
expeditions into the surrounding district and westward as 
far as the Colorado River. The inhabitants are kind, and 
theft and murder are unknown; this is largely character- 
istic of the entire north-western corner of Sonora, called 
the District of Altar. The towns of Altar and Caborca 
are reputed also to be remarkably free from bad men. 
Mexican authority in Sonoita is represented by a comisarw, 
who settles any dispute that may arise. He also marries 
people, for there is no priest living west or south of far- 
away Altar. 

A young comisario, recently arrived, arrested people 
twice for ridiculous ofTences; in one of them, for instance, 
a man would not allow his fifteen or sixteen year old 
daughter to marry. There is evidently little need of his ac- 
tivities and he probably felt that he had to do something 
to assert his authority. Sonoita does not boast of any 
prison, so any one who may be arrested has to be tied to 
a mezquite tree. When people are ill, they are brought 
to the centre of the scattered population; the patient is 
received in one of the houses, and the female part of the 
population takes turns in caring for him or her, even 
watching during the night. Many kinds of native reme- 



178 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

dies are used and food is prepared. On one occasion 
voluntary subscriptions were made to defray expenses. I 
was not asked to contribute, though my advice in regard 
to the disease was sought. It was a sad case of insanity 
which grew worse instead of better, so people finally lost 
their interest in what appeared to them a hopeless con- 
dition. On another occasion, when a poor Papago girl 
was in extreme distress, the house where she had been 
taken was for several days filled with sympathetic women 
solicitous for her health. 

Japanese have been known, though rarely, to start 
from Sonoita westward through the desert, bound, proba- 
bly, for the Colorado River. The people of Sonoita were 
enthusiastic in describing the pluck of these travellers; 
without blankets and with few provisions they walked 
better than horses, carrying water in a Standard Oil can 
which hung from a pole, the ends of which rested on the 
shoulders of two men. When asking for information 
about the right way, they showed much keenness in under- 
standing the right directions. 

My camp was pitched near the house of Sr. Isauro 
Quiroz, the most important citizen of Sonoita and a man 
of some reading. Both he and his family delighted in 
showing me hospitality and attentions; he accompanied 
me to the place in which I was most interested here, the 
beginning of the Sonoita River. Stone artifacts had been 
found there many feet below the surface. The river has 
receded of late years and brought about some changes 
in the landscape. Formerly there existed a series of 
cienegas (swamps) immediately above the rise of the river, 



CHANGES IN SONOITA RIVER 179 

extending back for about three miles. They were in 
reality the river itself which, during its capricious sub- 
terranean course, found itself obstructed at Sonoita and 
spread out into swamps. The water filtered through at 
one place and ran in a narrow channel which it cut 
through the gravelly, clayish deposit, thus forming the 
beginning of the river which flows on after this without 
embankments. 

During the night of August 6, 1891, after a heavy rain, 
the water carried off a hard barrier, about twenty meters 
wide, which had been retaining the swamps, and widened 
the channel, making it recede about a kilometer. The 
swamps dried up in three years, but the surface is under- 
mined in places and a man and his horse are said to have 
inadvertently fallen into a cavity caused by the former 
action of the water. Where there had been before only a 
llano, a forest of mezquite trees sprang up, which is visible 
to any one who enters Sonoita from the east. An inter- 
esting circumstance in the receding of the river and the 
widening of its channel is that it brought to light aboriginal 
artifacts, mostly consisting in metates (grinding stones) 
and their attendant rubbing stones. Also many sea-shells 
were found there, which were used as ornaments by the 
primitive people. 

I found this channel to be about two hundred and fifty 
feet broad and from eighteen to twenty feet deep. The 
objects that had been discovered here could no longer be 
accounted for, one metate only was left and it was still 
lying at the bottom. According to the location of the 
find, as pointed out to me by Sr. Quiroz, the artifacts must 



i8o NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

have been about twenty feet below the surface. I found a 
metate of a light-colored stone imbedded in the embank- 
ment twelve feet below the surface, and also took along 
the other one that was lying at the bottom of the channel. 
Neither of them is quite perfect; they have been much 
used, but do not differ materially from those seen among 
the Indians of to-day. In a climate as dry as this, where 
rain-water has little chance, except perhaps in the month 
of August, of bringing about changes by removing and 
depositing the earth, it would seem as if thousands of 
years would be needed to build up a stratum of such 
thickness and extent, and one is led to the deduction that 
the climate was formerly less dry than at present. 

From the Indians and Mexicans of Sonoita I gathered 
several ancient stone artifacts such as axes, lance and 
arrow points, which undoubtedly belonged to predecessors 
of the Papago, having the same general character as the 
rest of the prehistoric remains found in the Papagueria 
and already alluded to. The Indians of the present day 
know nothing about them, but the magic qualities attrib- 
uted to them are used for healing purposes. To this end 
the lance or arrow points are left in water, which after- 
ward is taken internally and applied externally, while the 
medicine-man waves the stone object over the patient, 
holding it by a string attached to it, and at the same 
time he blows his breath over the sick man repeatedly. 

On Friday evening, November 26, I saw for the first 
time a lunar rainbow. At six o'clock we had a light 
shower of rain, which soon ceased. The moon, which 
would be full the following day, shone and the sky above 




Agua Dulce, a reappearance of Sonoita River 




The channel at the beginning of Sonoita River 



RAINBOW OF THE MOON i8i 

us was clear, but moderate winds from the south brought 
fine douches of rain which would often stop and then 
recommence, seemingly more laden with moisture each 
time. The south-west remained cloudy and dark, and 
on the western sky there appeared a large and very dis- 
tinct arc, caused by the moon. It was very light in color, 
at first sight appearing almost white, but a more careful 
examination revealed colors. At Its first appearance It 
was absolutely perfect, and I tried a quick photograph 
of it. It seemed to be about thirty degrees above the 
horizon and Included one-fifth of it. During the half 
hour it was seen, it faded away several times, but for many 
moments it was very distinct, and once the northern end 
of the arc was quite rich in colors — even astonishingly so. 
The red formed the exterior ring of the rainbow. The 
curve was not an arc of a circle but a parabola. On 
account of the light showers that came and went all the 
time, I could not keep the camera outside, and every time 
I went into my tent to get it, the arc would be faint when 
I came out again. The Mexican engineers, whose camp 
I had again encountered here, had also never seen a lunar 
arc before. One of them, as he came riding back from 
the east at dusk, had observed that the moon was covered 
by a cloud and that as soon as it cleared away the rain- 
bow appeared. At first he saw only the left, lower part 
of the arc. It appeared to him as being thirty degrees or 
perhaps thirty-five degrees above the horizon and having 
a width of one-quarter of the horizon. 

I was desirous of starting on an expedition to explore 
the Pinacate region and the desert west of there as far as 



i82 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

the Colorado River. The preparations, however, had to 
proceed slowly, because men and animals could only be 
procured with difficulty, and caution in the selection, 
especially of the men, was imperative. It became nec- 
essary for my purpose to return to Quitovac from where 
I made a visit to San Antonio, formerly a gold mine, 
said to have been discovered in 1831 by a Papago 
Indian. In the same year the placer mines of Quitovac 
were found, and at about the same time also those of 
Sonoita. 

In the western part of the District of Altar active 
mining of gold, since the recent and probably temporary 
abandonment of the Sierra Pinta and Juarez mines, is 
not pursued to any great extent. As for the gold placer 
mines found in that part of the country, silence, with very 
few exceptions, reigns over them. The District of Altar 
is richly mineralized and there is no reason that the western 
part should be less so. Sixty-one years ago J. F. Velasco, 
who represented government authority in the gold-fields, 
writes: "Suffice it to say that from the River Fuerte 
de Montes Claros, which is the dividing line between this 
Department and that of Sinaloa, to the Gila River in the 
north, in the north-west to the Colorado River, and in the 
east to the Sierra Madre, there is not a town or a ranch 
which has not at least one vein of gold, silver, lead, 
or copper. Almost the same is true of the placers, 
although not so generally." Of the placer mines of 
Cieneguilla, discovered in 1779, he relates that *'on the 
surface gold was gathered in the same way that fowls 
pick up corn." 



PAPAGO GOLD MINERS 183 

The surface merely of the different placers has been 
exhausted, and there is no doubt that in the district a con- 
siderable extent of country is left which will some day be 
scientifically exploited. The gold mines are of the bo- 
nanza type and, although the pockets are remarkably rich, 
I feel incompetent to give an opinion as to whether really 
great mines would be found there. The western desert 
country of Altar has been little explored by the prospector, 
and it would not be advisable to venture a prophecy at 
this time. 

Almost any day primitive mining by the Papago may 
be observed in the vicinity of Quitovac, and it is carried 
on mostly by women. The auriferous gravel, which is 
often cemented together so as to be quite hard, is first 
crushed ; the gold is next separated without water by the 
skilled manipulation of the wooden gold pan, the hatea, 
the operator lifting it above his head and letting its con- 
tents fall on an extended mat or skin. Having in this 
way separated the coarser particles, he treats the rest in 
the batea as if he were operating with water. The Ind- 
ians have also the ordinary "dry washing" machines which 
came originally from Hungary in 1851 and which may 
be seen in operation on those placers that are still being 
worked in the District of Altar. 

The Papago before the advent of the Spaniard did 
not know the use of gold and has no name for it other 
than 6I0, the native rendering of the Spanish oro. He is 
in our day, however, a keen miner and prospector when- 
ever he chooses to go in for mining pursuits. Up to late 
years the Papagoes brought nuggets of gold to Tucson, 



i84 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

Arizona, In exchange for commodities, and there is little 
doubt that a few of them know of hidden values, but 
they are reluctant to tell any outsider of such things, 
showing more or less the almost universal belief of Mexi- 
can Indians that if they divulge mineral secrets they will 
die. One Indian is reputed to know of a wonderful 
silver mine, and although an American married his daugh- 
ter, according to rumor in order to gain knowledge of 
the mine, his mouth still remains as closed as that of a 
freemason. 

In connection with the gold mining it may be of interest 
to note the prevalence of hydrophobia around the gold- 
fields of that Western country; according to all accounts. It 
once made considerable havoc among dogs, cattle, and don- 
keys, and has remained endemic in certain wild animals, 
as the coyote, the gray fox, and the small striped skunk. 
The population is now scarce and scattered, but instances 
of deaths from hydrophobia have been known in more 
recent times, though no case came under my immediate 
observation. Many stories are being told of how coyotes 
and wild foxes occasionally have bitten people or cattle. 
Where rabies Is so common, one may be certain that a 
remedy has also been found, and especially in a country 
like Mexico with countless medicinal herbs and the strong 
inclination of the natives toward their use. On the Al- 
tar River, In Oquitoa, Altar, and, above all, in PItlquito, 
live curanderos, who make a specialty of curing rabies, 
the secret being confined mainly to one family. In the 
western part of the Altar District it is the Indians who are 
supposed to know the secret of curing this disease, and 




Salt loads, recently discharged. Papaoo pack-saddles in the centre. 




Papago woman "dry washing" gold near Quitovac 



A LONG SUNRISE 185 

Mexicans when bitten go to them and are, according to 
their own statements, cured. Having been a long time 
among the Papago, the secret of the Indians was confided 
to me, and I have reason to think that the remedy, which 
is extremely simple, may be of value. On some future 
occasion I shall make a communication on the subject in 
a scientific journal. Hydrophobia is called in Papago 
notakik, derived from notak, crazy, mad. 

At Quitovac, on Thursday morning, December 9, sun- 
shine was observed twenty-seven minutes before sunrise. 
It was accompanied by an intense glow in the east, tana- 
ger red and orange in color, enveloping the nimbus and 
other clouds which floated over the horizon, though leav- 
ing a clear space of ten or twelve degrees above the latter. 
There was a fringe of very small clouds hanging down 
from the large ones which resembled falling rain. To- 
ward the west and in other directions the horizon was 
fairly clear, but the sky was rather overcast and I was 
awakened by a few drops of rain falling on my tent. 

The unusual glow attracted my attention. It was 
then 6.25 A. M., and I found the hill-tops all in sunshine, 
just as if the sun were rising. The light on the summits, 
first rose and then white, gradually crept down on the llano 
and shone in my tent ten minutes later, somewhat faintly, 
to be sure, but absolutely distinct. It slowly disappeared 
except on the very tops of the low ranges. By degrees 
also the intense reddish light in the east grew orange and 
fainter, while the clear space little by little became covered 
with stratus clouds, except close to the horizon, above 
which the sun began to appear at 6.52 and then soon disap- 



i86 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

peared behind the clouds. The color was at this time 
very faint. The phenomenon attracted attention even 
among the few Mexicans living here, one of them who 
rose at daybreak noticing unusual colors. 



CHAPTER XII 

AREAS OF VEGETATION— FITTING OUT AN EXPEDITION UNDER 
DIFFICULTIES— AN OLD MEDICINE-MAN ENROLLED AS A MEM- 
BER— GUADALUPE 

After having secured several good animals for my in- 
tended expedition, and also engaged the services of a 
middle-aged useful Indian called Guadalupe, as well as 
his three donkeys, I returned to Sonoita. This time the 
whole outfit was sent on to Temporales, while I, accom- 
panied by Guadalupe, made a slight detour to see a cave 
in the Sierra de Cubabi, which was said to contain pic- 
tographs. Southward from the south-east point of this 
sierra runs the almost invisible divide which separates 
the waters that run to Quitovac and Sonoita. In travel- 
ling northward from Quitovac toward this low divide it is 
striking to see how much higher the detritus, that runs 
down from the mountains in a slanting, straight surface 
line, is on the west side of the abra than on the east side. 
The cave was shallow and small and the drawings, well 
pecked on the inner wall, represented mainly whirlwind 
designs. A wagon road passes near by, following the base 
of the sierra ; it is heavy, but shortens the distance some 
fifteen miles between Quitovac and Sonoita and is, there- 
fore, preferable for those who travel with light loads. 

From here we cut across the bush, to use an Australian 

expression, and proceeding northward direct for the Tem- 

187 



i88 NEW TRAILS IN MKXICO 

porales, across the broad valley between Sierra de CubabI 
and Sierra de Santa Rosa, here more than twelve miles 
wide, I was able to get an Instructive Idea of the distri- 
bution of vegetation. We first passed through a forest of 
sahuaro that thrives on the gravelly detritus along the 
bases of the nude sierras. Large clusters of choyas were 
prominent In the landscape, and became more conspicu- 
ous as we advanced, especially the very spiny kind {opuntia 
fulgida). Graceful and rounded In shape and densely 
covered with long white and shining spines, these extraor- 
dinary cacti presented a weird but attractive sight in the 
late afternoon sun. My dog experienced much trouble 
from the loose spiny joints that were lying about and 
which It was Impossible for him to avoid. The formidable 
spines would cling to his feet and, as Is the manner of dogs 
of that country, he would bravely set to work to bite them 
off, filling his bleeding mouth with the easily detached 
spines. We had to stop again and again to help him. 

In the basins or flat depressions of the cactus region 
grass was growing and here is the home of the mule-deer. 
The useful barrel cactus was seen to have fruit, yellow In 
color and ripe, growing on top of the plant in two con- 
centric circles, like small, upright bananas. These as well 
as the fruit of the choya, also in season now, the middle 
of December, are eaten by the Papago. Both kinds are 
first boiled; they are acid, but agreeable to the Indian 
palate. We followed the detritus for seven miles, descend- 
ing almost imperceptibly toward the middle of the valley. 

Next we passed into the greasewood region, where the 
mule-deer does not appear, and soon we reached the fertile 



PREPARATIONS FOR AN EXPEDITION 189 

alluvial plains along the more or less visible river-course 
of the middle valley, where mezquite and palo fierro trees 
may be seen here and there. As one turns and travels 
westward to Sonoita, there may be observed on either side 
the slope of detritus which presents a band of bright green 
coloring, due to the forest of sahuaro along the bases of 
the weather-worn mountain ranges. Dark green with a 
tinge of yellow, betraying the presence of the greasewood, 
is the predominant color in the rest of the valley. 

The day after my return to Sonoita, December 18, the 
sun was hidden from view during the entire day. It had 
quite a depressing effect; the weather was cold and 
gloomy, and in the night the thermometer registered 
19° F., the lowest temperature that I had as yet recorded. 
During the winter in this region there are many cloudy 
days, though usually the sun comes out warm and pleasant 
in the afternoon. Light snowfalls on the tops of the higher 
mountain ranges were afterward reported; according to 
trustworthy authority, in 1899 the snow was even four or 
five inches deep. 

The essential part of my outfit, including certain pro- 
visions, had already been provided for in the United States 
and Hermosillo, but as I always depend largely upon the 
products of the country in which I travel, there were many 
things needed before I could start from Sonoita. It is 
not a good place for fitting out an expedition; one cannot 
even depend upon getting barrels in which to carry water 
on the trip. Provisions are scarce, except honey and that 
at times gives out; beef, so indispensable a part of the 
Mexican diet, may occasionally be bought, and usually 



I90 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

excellent lard of native manufacture may be procured, for 
among Mexicans a hog is killed only for the sake of the 
lard to be obtained from it. Two of the antiquated mills 
operated by donkeys were set in motion to supply us with 
flour, the most necessary part of all provisions, and later 
on I was thankful that the ordinary white flour was not 
procurable. 

To be sure it took a couple of days or more for the 
patient burros to turn out a quantity large enough with 
which to make a start, but waiting for this flour was worth 
while; though the Mexicans sift out the chaff, they nat- 
urally do not succeed in separating more than half of it 
by their primitive methods, and the freshly ground flour, 
slightly brownish in color, baked into the Mexican tor- 
tillas has a flavor that defies description. The flour that 
the Indian woman grinds on her metate, the whole wheat, 
shell and all, ground as fine as it is possible for her to do 
it, is still better. If she is willing to make this into tor- 
tillas and toast them, the traveller will have the most de- 
licious bread he has ever tasted. I have become a convert 
to the tortifla, provided it is not served in a soft state as is 
usually the case; even those made from the white man's 
flour, as thin and large as a medium-sized newspaper, are 
good when afterward toasted on the coals as they should 
be, without any burnt or brown spots. In the making of 
dishes au naturel^ Indian and Mexican women have no 
peers. 

The side and bottom of a Standard Oil can was 
straightened out to serve as our baking tray. At one end 
a hole was made and a loop of wire attached by which this 



PROVISIONS 191 

extremely useful contrivance could hang from any con- 
venient place in the packing outfit. The ordinary comal, 
made of earthen-ware, is of course useless for travel, and a 
so-called Dutch oven is altogether too heavy and cumber- 
some, besides being of little use. I was so pleased with 
this extemporized utensil that I had another made, and 
both served well for many months, providing us with the 
luxury of freshly made, crisp tortillas. 

A fairly large supply of preserved goods of the kind 
used by travellers had in due time arrived. In that dry, 
warm climate, California canned fruit of the best brand 
furnishes a rich and useful relish. On an expedition like 
this, where the distances between water are great, the out- 
fit should be movable and convenient, and heavy things 
are to be avoided. Bacon is a necessary adjunct for the 
preparation of game to be killed and for other reasons, 
and dried vegetables of various kinds must not be omitted. 
Small packages of pressed figs, dates, or other fruit, sold 
at five cents each in New York, as also shelled nuts, were 
found extremely useful to take along in the saddle pouch 
when obliged to travel without stopping to prepare food. 
Wood for making fires is often scarce, especially on the 
coast, but does not need to be provided in advance. 

As for the animals to be used on the expedition, I 
had gradually been able to acquire the necessary supply 
of mules and horses. The Indians were persuaded to 
leave their comfortable huts in those chilly, windy days 
to look for their burros (donkeys) which were running on 
pasture in the surrounding wilds and some of these were 
bought. The Mexicans who were to accompany me 



192 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

furnished their own horses. Great difficulty was experi- 
enced in regard to pack-saddles, and a quantity of bur- 
lap had to be bought to supply the need of saddle-cloths, 
especially for the burros, and, because it was not possible 
to secure material enough for this purpose, Sr. Quiroz and 
I contributed some old clothes which answered very well. 

Pinacate, an extensive field of volcanic upheaval, to 
the south-west of Sonoita was the immediate object of our 
journey, and Alberto was to bring his wagon that far in 
order to furnish transportation for a Papago medicine-man 
called Quelele (carrion hawk), who was too old to ride on 
horseback. As he was born among the sand dunes and 
knew well the Pinacate region, which plays an important 
part in the tribe's traditions, I was glad of the associations 
that his presence with us would bring. It was a difficult 
matter, however, to induce the old man to participate in 
the venture, although on my first visit to Sonoita he had 
consented to show me Elder Brother's house, as he ex- 
pressed it; in Pinacate is found one of the principal resi- 
dences of this deity, a sacred cave to which the younger 
generation of the tribe pays little or no attention. In 
spite of his having left Pinacate many years ago, and as- 
sociating much with Mexicans, he was a firm believer in the 
ancient regime, and to him it was a fact that their Creator 
lived there. 

When I saw the old man again, on my second visit to 
Sonoita, he had thought my proposition over thoroughly 
and he feared to go with us; the Mexicans who accom- 
panied me might afterward show the cave to others, or 
Mexicans might follow our tracks later and take away 



OBJECTIONS OVERCOME 193 

the things sacrificed there. Some evil might befall us 
such as an illness, or a strong wind might carry us down 
into the abysses; then a prospector had once availed him- 
self of his services without paying him. Having been 
reassured upon all these points, he finally said that on one 
condition only would he go with me, namely, that on 
arriving we should spend one night in singing. This was 
readily agreed to; Clemente, my interpreter, knew how to 
sing several Indian songs, and I also knew two, and in 
addition in my camp there was Guadalupe, the Papago, 
who sang very well. 

He then declared it necessary to bring certain sacrificial 
offerings to deposit in the cave, which it was incumbent 
upon me to procure. The articles could be bought from 
the Indians of Sonoita, except blue glass beads, which 
were acquired through the kindness of his wife. She 
sold us a piece of a beautiful large necklace which she 
wore when she went to the annual feast of Quitovac. 

One difficulty more had to be overcome, the planting 
of his wheat, for which he desired two days, I paying a 
man to do the work. When I rode back to my camp late 
in the evening I felt that I had accomplished something 
toward the success of my coming expedition; but still I 
could not be absolutely sure of him until I had him in 
the wagon, and it was pleasing to me two days later to re- 
ceive his assurance that he was now ready for the journey, 
"if the sun was shining." For a man nearly eighty, even 
though an Indian, it was not an unreasonable demand, as 
the weather was surprisingly chilly and so damp that it 
interfered with the packing of my boxes. On Friday, 



194 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

December 24, the ground was as wet as if it had been 
raining; light mist rested on the hills around, and the sun 
arose in fog which completely enveloped our camp, frost 
appearing on the ground, but the following day, Christ- 
mas, the temperature changed and the flies stung as if 
we had been in the wet season. 

"It is the mile that begins at the door of one's house 
that is the most difficult of the journey to accomplish," says 
a Norwegian proverb, and the truth of it was certainly 
brought home to me as I made resolute struggles during 
the day to start with Mexicans and Indians who yet did 
not know each other or the sundry animals, burros, mules, 
and horses they were packing. To complicate matters, 
Guadalupe, the Papago, got drunk; I decided to move 
at any cost, and he managed to sit on his burro, though 
swaying to and fro. Knowing how valuable he would 
become away from the alluring and demoralizing influence 
of mescal, I was patient with him. We did not travel far- 
ther than to the Indian village where we made camp on 
the dancing place of the Indians in front of Quelele's 
house. The pleasant little plain was on a slight elevation, 
faultlessly level and scrupulously clean. Under the jacal 
that furnishes shade for the principal performers during 
the ceremonies of the feast, my men spread out their beds. 
The night was clear and beautiful, the air fresh, and I felt 
satisfaction in having overcome such trying circumstances 
and in the fact that I was actually on my way. My party 
consisted of three Mexicans and three Indians; a Mexican 
who was to act as guide from Pinacate to the Colorado 
River was to join us three weeks later at Pinacate. 



A STRONG CONSTITUTION 195 

Guadalupe suffered much that night under the reaction 
from the awful stuff sold as mescal and in reality wood 
alcohol and water. But with all his deplorable failing 
as regards strong drink, he was much of a man, and the 
next morning found him as active at his work as any one 
else. From now on he was for many months my valued 
companion in the desert. He was an excellent packer, 
besides being a good cook; what he knew he had picked 
up from the Mexicans, but he was more conscientious and 
careful than most of them. He knew what to do and did 
it without orders; a renowned tracker, he was also fond 
of shooting, spoke Spanish besides Papago, and was 
faithful, courteous, and quiet, and altogether an ideal man 
to camp with. Still this same man, when he came into 
Sonoita or Quitovac, where the white man's fire-water 
could be procured, would drink like a fish, selling his 
animals and belongings to gratify his craving. Only his 
marvellous constitution kept him alive, many Indians hav- 
ing been known to die from the dreadful alcohol sold them. 



CHAPTER XIII 

THE OLD CABORCA-YUMA TRAIL— QUITOVAQUITA, THE PLACE 
OF SMALL SPRINGS— OLD CAMPING PLACES— PINACATE AND 
LEGENDS CONNECTED WITH IT— DISCOVERY OF WATER— 
OUR FIRST MOUNTAIN-SHEEP— VISIT TO A SACRED CAVE- 
ASCENT OF THE PEAK— WINTER WEATHER— CRATER ELE- 
GANTE—TRAVEL AT NIGHT 

QuELELE, the old Indian, joined us in the morning 
as we started on our journey v^^estward. From Sonoita 
to Agua Dulce, a day's journey, we were on the old 
trail which, passing Sonoita, connects Caborca with 
Yuma. It follows at first more or less closely the So- 
noita River which, after an eight-mile course, ceases to 
exist except as a dry river-bed with a growth of mez- 
quites at either side and streams of running water ap- 
pearing at intervals, the last time at Agua Dulce. This 
old camino real was the only means of communication 
between Sonora and California in the days before the 
Southern Pacific Railroad was built. As the country 
traversed is fairly level, the track is passable for wagons. 
After leaving Sonoita the great difficulty was, of course, 
water; the custom of carrying this in barrels is of late 
date, the travellers, mostly Mexicans, using gourds (hules) 
for the purpose, which is very precarious on account of 
their limited capacity and fragility. Certain of the 

camps of the trail, such as Agua Dulce, Tinaja del Tule 

196 



A NOTABLE TRAIL 197 

and Tina j as Altas, are renowned In the pioneer history of 
the district. Here water usually could be depended upon, 
being stored after showers in natural cavities of the rock, 
but between Sonoita River and Yuma there is no running 
water for one hundred and thirty-five miles; when the pool 
at Tule gave out, there would be sixty miles to cover with- 
out water. But for the help of the Papago Indians, 
who knew where water was, it would have been impos- 
sible in those days to have established the trail, in the 
following of which, moreover, hundreds of people later 
died from thirst. Many recent authorities speak of this 
part of the trail as the Camino del Diablo, but nobody 
in Sonoita knows it under that name, and possibly 
there may be some confusion arising from the name of 
the small canon between low ranges which the trail 
passes near the Tule well, called Cajon del Diablo. 

The Jesuit fathers were probably the first white men to 
pass over the trail in the seventeenth century, and Father 
Kino has left us a map of it. There is no evidence to show 
that they ever traversed the country south of it, at least 
west of Sonoita. Bancroft's map of Melchior Diaz's sup- 
posed route is absurd to one who knows the region in ques- 
tion. Among Mexicans there is a persistent rumor of an 
abandoned mission somewhere in the sand-dune country 
east of the Colorado River, showing foundations of walls 
near a spring with running water among the sand dunes, 
and an old smelter connected with it. Its location usually 
is placed near the coast south of Tinajas Altas. A man 
from that camp, who was looking for his horses, is 
said to have come across these ruins near the Cabeza 



198 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

Prieta Range, but the lower part of the Sonoita River is 
assumed to be the locahty by others. A Mexican from 
Yuma, according to report, searched for it with persever- 
ance for several winters. Although I travelled for many 
months in those regions, I saw or heard nothing to sub- 
stantiate a belief in the lost mission with its supposed 
treasures buried by the crafty monks. 

I made a halt of one day at Quitovaquita, a small 
Indian settlement just within the United States boun- 
dary, in order to try to procure as member of my party 
a Papago medicine-man who lives here. He is known 
under different names, as Cara Colorada (Red Face, a 
translation of his native name). El Doctor Pancho, or 
simply Pancho, and enjoys considerable reputation in 
his profession. He is one of the few surviving sand 
people {arenehos) who once inhabited the dune country 
over which my explorations would lead. It was es- 
pecially desirable to have him as guide through that 
somewhat difficult region from the mouth of the Col- 
orado River eastward along the upper part of the Gulf 
of California, and no Mexican had been found who 
knew that country. 

Quitovaquita owes its native name, "Small Springs," 
to several diminutive springs with excellent water which 
are found there, and which in futile attempts at cattle 
raising and mining have been deflected into a dam, 
now utilized solely by Indians. The tiny stream, fed by 
the springs, carries beautiful, limpid water amid banks 
white with mineral salts; the fresh green weeds at the 
bottom are also refreshing to behold. When heavy 



THE VALUE OF PLUMES 199 

showers fall, connection is made with the Sonoita River, 
and the same minnows which were seen there were 
splashing in the streamlet up to its very sources. The 
dam, of only moderate size, made a charming impres- 
sion with the surrounding trees and bushes here and 
there reflected in it. There were a few dark gray and 
black water hens here, one white heron and some ducks, 
and at dusk seven fine-looking geese swooped down into 
the pond, evidently intending to spend the night there. 

It was very disappointing to have the old medicine- 
man prevented from joining us on account of the pro- 
tracted illness of his daughter, who needed his care and 
presence. I interviewed him, however, as long as his 
patience would permit, and although his knowledge and 
horizon were limited, he gave accurate information and 
was sincere in his beliefs. He was also willing to sell 
me eagle plumes which I needed for my visit to the 
sacred cave in Pinacate, bringing me for selection a 
number of large wing feathers as well as some small 
ones from underneath the wing. Our own medicine- 
man, who had to be consulted on this question, said that 
the small ones would do very well. One dollar as the 
price of four tiny feathers, though they came from an 
eagle, and had to the Papago much religious value, 
seemed rather excessive, but I paid it on learning that 
four of the big ones were worth a horse, or sixteen dol- 
lars. 

The old camping place, Agua Dulce, which we 
passed the following day, has abundant and good water 
always flowing, for a short distance, in the Sonoita 



200 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

river-bed. There used to be a Mexican ranch here 
which has been abandoned, the surrounding country 
being entirely given up to wild donkeys, which thrive 
here, and in the dry season make such a noise at night 
as to prevent any possibility of sleep. Their head- 
quarters are at this pleasant little stream, and between 
here and Quitovac there must be about three thousand 
of these animals which are constantly multiplying. They 
are very fat and attempts have been made to manu- 
facture soap from their fat, an article which is always 
expensive in Mexico. I was informed that the late 
Cipriano Ortega, who established the now deserted 
Hacienda de Santo Domingo, once shot one hundred of 
these burros which supplied soap to the value of two 
thousand dollars Mexican currency. Some of them 
yielded one hundred and twenty-five pounds of fat, and 
others only fifty. There are many wild burros also in 
the District of Magdalena. The printer in Altar told 
me that donkey fat is the best for typographical use. 

At Agua Dulce we left the old Yuma trail, proceed- 
ing now in the direction of Pinacate, first to Agua Sa- 
lada, five miles farther, and the-n to Los Pozitos. At 
both localities water may be found by digging in the 
river-bed, though the mineral salts, comprised by the 
Mexicans in the word salitre, often cover its banks like 
a thin layer of snow. We camped a little beyond, not 
far from a sand dune branch that extends from the 
coast as far as Agua Salada. The water at Los Pozi- 
tos, though abundant and found wherever one digs in 
the sand, is somewhat brackish and slightly muddy. 




^^^»«s»-'--'3X5!«r«7:T^' 




Approaching storm. View from Pinacate top, LOOiaNG south, at sunset, January 3 




PiNACATE FROM THE EAST. COMMENCEMENT OF THE LAVA FLOW. To THE RIGHT, MY CAMP 




Belt of great sand-hills south of Pinacate 

Photographed at seven miles distance from the north 



FIRST VIEW OF PINACATE 201 

The animals declined to drink and its taste was not 
pleasant, but our experience in the desert along the 
coast later taught us to look upon this kind of water 
supply as almost nectar. In the evening, which was 
December 28, we had light breezes from the south-west, 
then from the east and finally from the north, during a 
period of two hours, the weather changing from clear to 
cloudy and back again two or three times. Hardly did 
I take a note of the weather before there was a change. 

A horse that strayed away during the night delayed 
our departure until about eleven o'clock. We soon 
emerged from the small hills that surrounded our camp 
and entered a fine llano with an inspiring view of the 
volcanic upheaval called Pinacate toward the south-west. 
Very noticeable are the two cone-shaped peaks, Los Picos 
del Pinacate, which rise from the central part. They 
are visible at a great distance, and from our point of 
view appeared to be side by side, the one to the left 
being the nearer and slightly lower. The vast llano, 
covered with sombre yellowish-green greasewood bushes 
sparsely interspersed with chamiso, appeared as flat as a 
billiard table. Greasewoods formed the horizon toward 
the south-east between Sierra del Pozo on the left hand 
and Sierra de San Francisco on the right. The soil 
looked surprisingly rich, and the Mexicans all agreed 
that it would be good for agriculture. 

The Papago name for Pinacate is Tjuktoak, "Black 
(tjuk) Mountain (toak)." The Mexican name is derived 
from the prevalence here of a large black beetle called 
pinacate, some species of eleodes, which raise the hinder 



202 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

parts of their bodies in a peculiar manner when interfered 
with. The locahty is famous in the legends of the Papago 
as being the mountain where Iitoi,or Elder Brother, landed 
after the deluge. He knew, so tradition goes, that the 
world was going to be flooded, and he saved himself in a 
cask made from greasewood "gum" with a cover of the 
same material. He also taught the coyote hov/ to save 
himself in a reed. He advised the pinacate to go down 
into the ground and the vulture to rise high up in the sky. 
Elder Brother saw how water came forth from the tops 
of the mountains, and when it was rising he entered his 
cask which floated four times around the world, and 
then he landed at Pinacate and was very thin after the 
long voyage. The coyote also drifted four times around 
the world, and was the next to effect a landing, on a range 
without passes, near the Gila River. The ground was 
wet and very muddy, so litoi put up four ceremonial 
sticks to drain the country. He and the coyote met 
the pinacate and they all walked together. The ground 
was so wet that they could not sit down, so they dug a 
hole deep down, where they found the soil to be less 
moist. Then they created the red ants which a little 
deeper down found dry earth which they brought to the 
surface for the three to sit on. From the presence of 
this deluge legend among the natives of the arid coun- 
try, one might, not without reason, deduce an argument 
for a change of climate since the days when the legend 
originated. 

Another legend of Pinacate refers to one of the vol- 
canic eruptions: 



EXTINCT VOLCANOES 203 

litoi lived in Baboquivari before he came to Pinacate. 
At that time there were many people in Pinacate. The 
mountains were very high then, and the sun used to 
set soon after it had risen, so the days were very short. 
He saw that this did not suit the people, and he decided 
to lower the mountains. He built two fires, where the 
two peaks are found to-day, making fire by drilling one 
stick into another one. The wind blew the ashes about 
to all parts and made the mountains lower, covering the 
country so as to look as seen to-day. After that the people 
lived contented, and there was not so much shade from 
the west. 

We approached the great dark looking mass of extinct 
volcanoes much sooner than I had expected. Small iso- 
lated volcanoes were observed on the plain below and 
near the main mass toward the north-west; one which 
was soon left behind is light in color, almost pinkish, 
hence its name Cerro Colorado, with deep furrows from 
the top down and with an air of recent formation about it. 
Our old guide, though he had left the Pinacate region 
forty odd years ago, pointed out with no uncertainty the 
place where the Indian trail ran that would take us to the 
cave. At a considerable distance away there is visible 
about half-way up the mountain side an abrupt decHvity 
of a descending ridge, looking something like a land- 
sHde. Below that declivity he said that water would be 
found, and here our camp was to be. As soon as we ar- 
rived at the lava flow the track was very hard to follow. 
Sometimes we crossed small arroyos among the low ridges 
with a vegetation consisting mainly of palo verde, palo 



204 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

fierro, and coarse grass. The wagon could only proceed 
with difficulty, and finally at dusk we made camp near an 
arroyo where there was plenty of good grass for our ani- 
mals, but no water. 

The next day we set out to search for water, following 
the crooked dry water-courses that ran down from the 
mountains. As we ascended I enjoyed the fine view toward 
the north-east, though the weather was hazy. It must have 
rained more here than from where we came, for we found 
several of the small arroyos slightly moist and I observed 
half a dozen different specimens of flowers in bloom. 
After a few miles of ascent, the presence of small birds 
singing indicated water somewhere; it was found below 
the peculiar declivity of the mountain slope, just as we had 
been told, but its appearance was altogether surprising: 
four natural dams filled with water, rising one above the 
other in the narrow gorge. The largest was fairly accessi- 
ble to our animals, but the rest could not be reached by 
them. Some of the lava in the neighborhood had quite a 
recent look, like cow dung or iron slag in appearance. 

This locality used to be one of the favorite haunts of the 
sand people. Pieces of broken pottery were strewn on the 
ground and small circular rows of medium-sized stones 
indicated the camping space of each family. Here they 
came to hunt mountain-sheep and to gather the edible 
seeds called chia (hyptis) which, when placed in water, 
half dissolve Into starchy matter and are much relished. 
The Papago call the locality " Many Pools," and I named 
it Las Tinajas de Emilia for my friend. Miss Emily Beebe, 
of Boston. In a country where water is so rare, travellers 



DELIGHTFUL CLIMATE 205 

hail with dehght the sight of such picturesque reservoirs. 
From here a trail leads across the mountains west of 
the two high peaks to another former important Papago 
camp, known among the Mexicans as Tinaja de los Chivos. 
At both places the water lasts usually more than a year, a 
longer time than at any of the other natural tanks in the 
Pinacate region, the high rocks which surround them pre- 
venting much evaporation. 

The next day, leaving our wagon behind, we moved 
up to our new camp, the site for which I selected in an 
arroyo three hundred yards below the newly discovered 
tinajas. Though somewhat limited in width, the dry 
watercourse with its gravelly sand furnished us an at- 
tractive camp on a small elevation in its bed. As was 
usually the case with these sheltered arroyos among the 
lava flows of Pinacate, there were several species of bushes 
in flower, such as the salvia with its odorous leaves and 
another, called by the Mexicans pinta party which had 
bright, light-blue flowers. It was the last day of the year, 
though the temperature suggested spring. The slender 
ocotillos on the small gravelly mesa near by were begin- 
ning to bring forth new leaves, and in the evening the 
voices of the cicada {la chicharra), to my ear so closely 
associated with tropical summers, mingled with that of 
the mocking-bird. The balmy air and the peace and calm 
of the place were delightful. 

But the very next day, Saturday, January i, and for 
many days following, we were made aware of the presence 
of winter. A moderate gale sprang up from the south, 
gradually turning damp and disagreeably cold, and the 



2o6 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

sky became cloudy with occasional light showers. Two 
of the Mexicans went out to look for carne (meat), which 
was sadly needed where so many people, all with ravenous 
appetites, were assembled. My principal hunter, whom 
we called Charlie because, though a Mexican, he hailed 
from Arizona, had been promising us mountain-sheep 
for two days. "At this time of the year," he said, ''the 
sheep are on the tops of the mountains, where the females 
are having their young." But scaling the tops brought 
him 'no reward and he did not find even one fresh track, 
so his compatriots began to make merry with him. 

About the middle of the day, however, our attention 
was suddenly attracted by the repeated sounds of rifle 
shots from above in the mountains. After a while our 
hunter appeared on top of a sloping ridge above the camp 
and shouted for a burro to carry the quarry to camp, a 
message which gave us all much satisfaction. It was a 
fine, large ram which the combined efforts of three Mexi- 
cans lifted up on the pack animal. In camp it was 
hoisted by the hind legs to a branch and carefully skinned 
and opened. In the stomach were found the flowerstalks 
as well as leaves of the white brittle bush, an herb called 
golondrina {euphorbia polycarpa), reddish in color and 
blooming at that time, also some of the parasitic plant 
that grows on the palo verde and palo fierro. Another 
and smaller mountain-sheep was brought in and an es- 
sential part of our provisions was successfully settled for 
some little time to come. 

Quelele had put in readiness all the sacrificial objects 
we had brought along for our proposed visit to the sacred 



ASCENDING THE PEAK 207 

cave, and he had made several Improvements in the ar- 
rangement of some. As the time drew near for our ex- 
cursion, I felt little inclined for the vigil of one night 
which had been agreed to, so I asked him if a couple of 
hours' devotional exercise might not be sufficient for our 
needs. Clemente and Guadalupe, though perfectly will- 
ing to comply with the conditions, confessed that they 
did not know any Pinacate songs. By this and similar 
arguments we succeeded in changing the old man's 
mind, and he delighted me when after thoughtful reflec- 
tion he declared that it was not necessary to sing now that 
we had so many sacrificial things. 

I had decided to take Monday, January 3, for the visit, 
combining with it an ascent of the one of the two peaks 
which was nearer to our camp. In the morning the wind 
changed to west and north-west; a chilly, light shower of 
rain fell, but when we started from the tinajas for the 
ascent at 10.40, the weather was clear, there being only 
a few nimbus clouds in sight. As we followed the fairly 
distinct Indian trail that winds its way along the ridges 
upward, I observed the chuparosa {heloperone calif ornica), 
the flowers of which are eaten by the Papago, and also 
quantities of the well-known plant chia in the small ar- 
royos and declivities. One hour's march brought us to the 
base of the cinder-covered cone where the cave was situ- 
ated. Many years had gone by from the time of Quelele's 
last visit to the sacred precinct; his hair was not gray 
then and more than one generation had passed since. 
He could not at once find the object of our trip and half 
an hour was spent in searching for it in the lava flow. 



2o8 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

There was an entrance to a subterranean cave which he 
distinctly remembered not to be the right one, and here 
we noticed some marks cut in a sahuaro which was grow- 
ing near the hole that led downward. Our cave turned 
out to be a long natural tunnel, the bottom of which ran 
for some twenty feet below the surface. The roof of the 
tunnel had fallen in for about ten yards just where the 
entrance to the holy place had been, and hence our guide 
did not at first recognize it. The passage is believed by 
the Indians to run westward underneath the mountains, 
then under the sea until it reaches an island where Elder 
Brother's wife lives. The god has another though less 
important *' house" some miles from this cave on the 
same side of the mountain, but this I did not visit. 

It evidently filled Quelele with dismay that **Iitoi's 
house had fallen down." The god himself had caused 
this destruction in anger against the people who no 
longer came to deposit offerings and do him homage. 
Some old, weather-worn sacrificial objects were observed 
around a small natural terrace down in the opening, as 
well as in the cracks of the rocky sides. Our guide 
was too old to descend himself, but he asked the two 
Indians, Guadalupe and Clemente, to perform the sacri- 
fice for him. They clambered down and Guadalupe 
deposited in a crack of the old lava the ceremonial ob- 
jects we had brought along. These objects were an 
arrow, as a mark of respect and for the use of the god; 
a prayer-stick, colored by red ochre with a small eagle 
plume tied to its top, to secure luck in hunting; a bunch 
of yucca fibre tied in a knot, in order that the wind might 




.J0^ 



Guadalupe at the sacred cave uf Pinacate 



MAKING OUR VISIT 209 

be favorable to us; some cigarettes for the god's personal 
use; a piece of blue glass bead necklace, for the god to 
use as appendages for his ears and for the septum of 
his nose. On their own account Guadalupe and Cle- 
mente each placed a strand of fibre in order that noth- 
ing untoward should happen to either of them while 
on the expedition, asking especially for protection against 
storms. 

While this was being done the old man lighted a 
cigarette and, turning his face toward the west where the 
sea is, though hidden from view by the peak that rose 
above us, he made his prayer aloud to litoi, smoking now 
and then and blowing the smoke in the same direction. 

"I did not come to visit you because the weather 
was bad," he said. "Now I have come to leave these 
things here. I could not find your house because it is 
so different now. With whom are you angry .? Perhaps 
you are angry with us because we do not visit you more 
often. A man comes here from the other side of the 
sea to know your house. I bring him and his compan- 
ions from Sonoita. Give good luck to the man and to 
us all. Give good luck to the hunters that he has with 
him. Give them a mountain-sheep that you do not 
need for yourself. Give me good luck on my return 
home. Don't let it rain while I travel. Stop the wind." 

The ceremonies over, he began to make his way 
back to camp while we continued our ascent at one 
o'clock in the afternoon. Near the rim of a small crater, 
two-thirds up from here, quails and a cotton-tail enli- 
vened the scene. I had expected to be troubled by 



210 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

spiny choyas when walking in the shppery cinders, but 
there were none growing toward the top; in fact, I hardly 
observed half a dozen the whole day. As we approached 
the top the paths of the mountain-sheep were very no- 
ticeable in the loose cinders, as distinct as if a dozen 
men had been marching in file, and leading upward in 
fairly good grades. The roads became more numerous 
as we ascended, and often we saw the lairs of the sheep 
where their bodies had left shallow hollows in the cin- 
ders, there being perhaps half a dozen or more at each 
place. These animals seem to select the most lofty 
places for camping although they may never be dis- 
turbed by human beings; even at the very top, toward 
the east, their camps were seen, and one at only ten 
yards from the summit. Our ascent ended at 2.40 P. m. 
My aneroids, subject to the uncertainty inherent in all 
those instruments, at the top showed an elevation of 
4,400 feet, at a temperature of 41° F., and our camp to 
be 2,475 feet lower. The other peak, which is west, 
a Httle to the south, is scarcely a mile off, and visibly 
higher, the difference being only about a hundred feet. 

The view was fine and quite extensive; the upper 
part of the Gulf of California and the sand dunes that 
border it are not far off. The mountains of Lower 
California seemed to stretch out in a long, even range. 
The distant sierras and llanos looked impressive, and 
as for Pinacate itself, it seemed to be composed of sev- 
eral hundred volcanoes of no great height or prominence, 
which in their mass form a sierra, as the Mexicans call 
it, with several outlying cones and craters, especially 



COLD WEATHER 211 

toward the north. The lava flow, which reaches from 
the southern point of Sierra Blanca to La Playa in the 
north, is about forty-five miles long and thirty miles at 
the widest place. 

During the hour and a half spent on top I took 
photographs of the panorama which spread itself around 
us, but the north-westerly wind, at first slight and then 
increasing in strength, began to interfere so much that 
it knocked down my tripod, breaking one of its legs. 
The temperature steadily fell until it reached 32° F. 
and we were all shivering with cold, one of the Mexi- 
cans literally trembling. A small fire, which we suc- 
ceeded in making from some remains of bushes that 
were lying about, served to warm us up somewhat, 
though the ache in my finger tips did not abate and 
brought back to memory bitterly cold days of my boy- 
hood in Norway. Toward sunset it grew hazy and in- 
distinct, clouds began to obscure the horizon drawing 
nearer as if a storm were approaching. We were all 
glad to leave the top and to begin our descent, sliding 
quickly along in the loose cinders and arriving after 
dark at our sheltered camp. 

In the night a gale from the north broke upon us, 
bringing cold, crisp, and clear weather in its wake. It 
felt like real winter and in the morning we had to move 
our kitchen down for shelter into a cut of the arroyo, 
and also to make a barricade of uprooted bushes and 
plants against the wind. A hardy humming-bird was 
observed hovering above the chuparosas. 

Quelele, having complied with his obligations, de- 



212 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

parted during the day, Alberto being commissioned to 
take him safely back to Sonolta in the wagon which we 
had left at the foot of the mountains. Clemente, the 
interpreter, went with him. He had served me well for 
two or three months and had for some time been 
anxious to return to his native place, Caborca, to look 
after his private affairs. He was an able and truthful 
Indian, who spoke Spanish well, though his extreme 
sensitiveness to anything that he Imagined savored of 
criticism interfered to some extent with his usefulness. 
Alberto was to return within a specified time, bringing 
back from Sonolta the man who was to guide us to the 
Colorado River as well as provisions. 

The clear, cold weather continued for four days; the 
water froze in our big canteens, and on the ponds in the 
arroyo the ice was an Inch and a quarter thick and had 
to be broken In order to make it possible for our ani- 
mals to drink. Water which was put on the fire for 
cooking purposes was largely In the form of lumps of 
Ice, making genuine American Ice-water. 

Taking Charlie and the remaining Mexican with 
me, I proceeded on an excursion to a large crater east 
of our camp which I had seen on ascending the peak, 
and which looked as if it were a large circular hole on 
the plain. It is little known among the very few Mexi- 
cans who visit the Pinacate region and had been men- 
tioned to me as the largest and the most beautiful of all 
the craters here. The only life observed on the road 
was when one or two of the little ground-squirrels that 
hold their tails erect, ran across our path, and a raven 



A BEAUTIFUL CRATER 213 

was noticed sitting on a stump and watching perhaps 
for some hzard to come out into the sun. One won- 
ders what this bird can find to eat here, but there is a 
certain tuberous plant growing on the plains called 
covena, which furnishes a favorite food supply. 

Approaching the crater from the south as we did, 
there appears a long, low slanting ridge which is its 
rim, rising only at the highest point from about one 
hundred to one hundred and fifty feet above the sur- 
rounding country. It is easy to ride up to the top of 
this ridge. On reaching this and taking a few steps 
forward, the magnitude and beautiful regularity of the 
circular opening which yawns impressively before one is 
surprising. I do not know how deep it is, for I had 
no opportunity to attempt a descent, which is said to 
be feasible though very difficult, and it looks difficult 
too, for the walls have crumbled less than is the case 
with other craters I saw later in that region. Com- 
pared with these, I should think this would be about 
eight hundred feet deep. The bottom is flat and the 
talus reaches about half-way up the steep sides. It is 
probably the deepest of all the craters there, and is by 
far the most beautiful, so the name Crater Elegante 
would be appropriate for it. 

The bottom looks like quite an attractive country; 
the same vegetation is observed there as above the sur- 
face, and some additional, for, besides the patches of 
galleta grass, there is a large bluish-white patch that ap- 
peared through my field-glass like a growth of the arrow- 
bush (in Spanish cachanilla). This would indicate that 



214 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

there is water, though probably below the surface. Sa- 
huaros are seen to grow down there, as also choya and 
the barrel cactus, palo verde, and palo fierro; most prom- 
inent of all is the white brittle bush which, as white 
dots, appears everywhere and even up on the sides of the 
talus. According to Mexican information, a bush called 
quaviri grows there, as well as the plant istajiate. Sal- 
itre is said to be present in spots toward the south; it 
occurs on the surface in small patches a mile or so be- 
fore arriving at the crater. 

•To get some idea of the size of this opening In the 
earth, we rode around it, following an old, fairly good 
trail along the rim. The trail was used formerly by 
the Indians in their pursuit of mountain-sheep, which 
occasionally descend into the crater, and fresh tracks of 
these animals were seen near by. Some of the Indians, 
armed with bows and arrows, would follow the sheep 
down, while others would watch for their egress from 
above. We rode as fast as our horses could walk, and 
accomplished the circuit in fifty minutes; making al- 
lowance for a slower pace one-third of the way, on ac- 
count of the stony character of the road, I think it safe 
to say that the opening Is a circle three miles around. 

It was nearly six o'clock and already dark when we 
retraced our steps. A chilling northerly wind was blow- 
ing, but we warmed ourselves around a large fire of dry 
ocotillo and departed. As long as Venus gave light we 
travelled pretty well, stopping several times for a few 
minutes to warm ourselves. It was only a matter of a 
few moments to make a fire by throwing a match into 



MATERIAL FOR FIRE 215 

the tall, dry galleta grass, patches of which we passed 
now and then. The wind blew the large waves of heat 
over us and our riding animals, which seemed to enjoy 
the comforting warmth and even the cheering aspect of 
it as much as we did. There is at least one advantage 
in travelling in the desert, and that is that there are so 
many inflammable bushes and trees. A fire can gener- 
ally be made quicker here than in any other country I 
know of; a match to the choya and all the bristles take 
fire as if they were tinder, and the spines of the sahuaro 
burn in the same way. The small bush tovoso, which 
grows everywhere in the desert region, contains so much 
resinous matter that it burns even when green and wet; 
for the same reason the primitive looking canutillo 
{ephedra) of the sand dunes furnishes a flaring blaze. 
Dry ocotillos are often seen lying about on the ground, 
especially along the bases of the mountains, ready at a 
minute's notice to make an excellent flame. The sa- 
huaro or the choya when dry burn almost equally as 
well, and the brittle bush may serve as fuel when the 
fire is already made. 

After a while it grew as dark as night can be, and we 
could not see each other as we walked leading our ani- 
mals one after the other in order to keep warm. The 
rough, black lava ridges we now and then had to cross 
tried us sorely, and the brittle bushes were our only 
guidance here, standing out as whitish spots among the 
now invisible but hard and sharp lava blocks. Once I 
stumbled down a small lava ridge, which to the eye ap- 
peared as even ground; I swung down and down over 



2i6 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

big blocks, landing finally with my right hand against the 
rough lava; my escape from breaking a limb was truly 
wonderful. 

About ten o'clock we arrived in camp, tired and pre- 
pared to eat anything in sight. The shelter of bushes 
in the arroyo, which we called la cocina (kitchen), beck- 
oned to us very hospitably with its substantial fire of 
palo verde wood and the ollas, pots, and kettles standing 
warm awaiting us. Guadalupe had retired for the night, 
but arose to take care of our riding animals. He had 
a splendid supper ready consisting of boiled mountain- 
sheep with bones and consomme. I know of no meat 
that can compare in flavor with that of the mountain- 
sheep, even if the animal be old. Also the Indian possesses 
the secret of boiling meat slowly, and the frijoles (beans) 
served were for the same reason excellent without the 
adding of any lard; few people know what a delicate, 
though little pronounced, natural flavor beans have. 
Until I had been among Indians I did not know this, 
and only extreme hunger would now induce me to eat 
the tasteless horror of so-called Boston baked beans. 
Guadalupe had made for me in addition some tortillas 
of very fine quality, and I congratulated myself upon 
having such a useful Indian with me. 



CHAPTER XIV 

CHANGING CAMP— MOUNTAIN-SHEEP— THE USEFUL GREASEWOOD 
—PALO FIERRO, THE FRIENDLY DESERT TREE— LOS MED AN OS, 
THE GREAT SAND DUNES— UNUSUAL TRACKS— ABANDONED 
INDIAN CAMPS— NEW SIERRAS— LA TINAJA DE LOS PAPAGOS— 
VISIT TO A CRATER 

On Sunday, January 9, we moved camp to the place 
where Alberto and the guide were to meet us, in the 
southern Pinacate Mountains, one mile from the pool 
called Tinaja del Cuervo. We followed an Indian trail 
descending to the llano, and as we passed an old Indian 
camping place near a water pool, a large olla was found 
entire among the greasewood bushes and a big sea-shell 
used by the Indians as a drinking vessel was lying on 
the ground. In the arroyos that run down from the 
mountains the palo fierro grew to unusual size and 
beauty, and quails, doves, and other birds were about. 
I remained behind and as I rode along, taking topo- 
graphical notes, I was suddenly confronted by a coyote, 
dragging its hind quarters painfully along, apparently 
paralyzed. At first sight I thought it might have rabies; 
then, as I rode nearer to take a photograph, the animal 
simply lay down, offering no resistance even when my 
terrier began to look it over. It had a fresh wound in 
the left side, which told me that it had been struck by 

a bullet from my party ahead. Mavit repeatedly dug 

217 



2i8 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

his nose Into its side and back, but he did not seem to 
want to do it any harm. 

After a march of about five hours, over good road 
mostly, we arrived at our destination, an inlet from the 
llano at the base of the mountains, well protected by 
sheltering ridges running down from above. An abun- 
dance of galleta grass was growing here, and hence the 
locality was called Galletal. Mezquites, palo fierro, and 
various bushes indicated the course of an arroyo, near 
which we made camp. The Tinaja del Galletal, three- 
quarters of a mile higher up the arroyo, was found to 
be dry, but in another arroyo, a mile north of our camp, 
there was water in the Tinaja del Pinto, known hitherto 
possibly only to the Indians, though trails led up to 
both pools. I found this to be a better camping place 
than the Tinaja del Cuervo, close by, the usual stopping 
place of Indians and Mexicans on their salt expeditions 
to the coast. 

We had plenty of partly green grass and much wood, 
the situation was very pleasant, and I greatly enjoyed 
the calm and mild weather after the cold and windy 
week we had just passed. The locality was alive with 
quail; in the mornings after dawn they would begin 
emitting a low cackling note while feeding in the quaviri 
trees {lycium) that grew here and there about the camp. 
These small, pretty trees with their light green foliage 
seemed to be the favorite feeding ground of the quail. 
Both the young leaves and especially the red berries are 
eaten; the latter are also relished by the Papago, either 
dried or boiled. It is strangely difficult to see these 



HUNTING MOUNTAIN-SHEEP 219 

birds when feeding or roosting, though they frequent trees 
that, compared with others, have small leaves and few 
of them. It was surprising to find that a tree of small 
dimensions might harbor as many as a couple of dozen 
feeding among its deHcate foliage. These birds rest for 
the night in the mezquite and the palo fierro. 

It was desirable to have dried mountain-sheep meat 
for our proposed expedition to the Colorado River, and 
I also wanted to preserve some skins and skulls for 
scientific use. This was welcome news to the two Mexi- 
cans, who were very anxious to start shooting. The 
first day's hunt resulted in ten shots being fired at one 
animal without apparently wounding it seriously, if at 
all, but the second day, after dark, they reported that 
they had killed six sheep which they had encountered 
up in the mountains four or five miles away. They had 
shot them in the course of two hours. According to 
their story, and this was confirmed by my experience 
later, generally those of a flock which are not hit do not 
run far, but soon stop to look at the intruder. They 
are stupid, though nervous animals, and very inquisi- 
tive; as one of the Mexicans expressed it, they lend 
themselves very well to the camera. Our principal 
hunter gave it as his opinion that if one shoots at a 
mountain-sheep without hitting him, he looks at you, for 
el cimaron es muy homhre (the mountain-sheep is very 
courageous). These animals never attack man, but in 
the summer the males fight much between themselves. 
The skins which I brought back from this expedition 
are all from Ovis Canadensis Gaillardi. It is a smaller 



220 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

animal than that of the Rocky Mountains. The horns 
are long and strongly incurved. Mountain-sheep are 
found in most of the sierras of southern Arizona and 
north-western Sonora, from Tinajas Altas to Port Lobos, 
especially in the Gila, the Cabeza Prieta and the Mo- 
hawk Ranges, Sierra de Cubabi and Sierra de Santa 
Rosa. They may still be encountered in Sierra del Viejo 
and Sierra del Alamo and in rare instances survive al- 
most as far as the neighborhood of Hermosillo. These 
are all one species. 

We now had more than sufficient game for our needs, 
and for two days we were kept busy bringing the quarry 
in, skinning and cutting the meat in long strips which 
were hung up to dry. Even dry, this meat tastes very 
good, and does not grow hard as that of oxen. Some of 
it which I brought to New York had preserved the same 
pleasant flavor, although it had been cured without 
much care and was over a year old. It is much improved 
by sprinkling salt on the strips before drying. Alberto 
and our guide, Clodomiro Lopez, arrived opportunely to 
help us in our butchering. 

The two Mexicans I had sent to investigate the condi- 
tion of the small tinaja near the north end of Sierra 
Blanca to the south of us, found it dry. It does not 
last usually more than three months, so a contemplated 
visit to this little-known locality had, therefore, to be 
postponed until a more opportune time. After our 
horses had all been shod for the hard malpais, as the 
Mexicans call the lava flow which we should have to 
traverse, we started, continuing to skirt the Pinacate 



FIRST VIEW OF THE SAND DUNES 221 

until we reached the starting point for our western ex- 
pedition. Our pack animals were eleven, four mules 
and seven burros. 

As we gained a point of vantage on the malpais, which 
stretched widely down from Pinacate, high sand dunes 
appeared against the overcast sky about two miles away. 
The sea was some fifteen miles distant from here and 
would have been visible but for the dull day. At first 
sight the row of big sand-hills appeared as if bathed in a 
dim sunlight, but this was only apparently so and is due 
to their peculiar light roseate tinge, which is less marked 
in the low dunes near the sea where the sand is much 
lighter in color. We approached them nearer and nearer, 
and finally travelled beside them over sandy flats that run 
up among the low lava ridges. Among the lava small 
green bushes, evidently owing their existence mostly to 
moisture from the sea, made their appearance. 

We still had the greasewoods with us, though much 
more scattered ; even in the depressions between the great 
waves of the dunes this bush ekes out an existence, 
though often half buried by the sand. Here for the 
first time I had occasion to see its mistletoe, a parasitic 
plant called by the Mexicans toji; it is found only on the 
coast and is famous among the Mexicans as a wonderful 
remedy. A tea made from it is supposed to relieve all 
kinds of stomach ailments from colic to dysentery. Clo- 
domiro, the guide, found this tea so refreshing that he 
used it as a beverage whenever he had an opportunity. 
Parasitic plants of similar appearance also grow in abun- 
dance on the palo verde as well as on the palo fierro and 



222 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

on the mezquite, but they are of another kind and not of 
medicinal value. The one on the greasewood of the coast 
is not very common. I have not tried its efficacy, but, judg- 
ing from the extraordinary antiseptic properties of the 
bush on which it lives, I am inclined to think well of the 
remedy. Steeping some twigs and leaves of the grease- 
wood in boiling-hot water produces a remarkable antisep- 
tic. My dog was bitten once by another dog at a particu- 
larly delicate place, and the wound, somewhat hidden 
from view, caused great inconvenience after a few days 
and was much swollen. Even after having been liberated 
from maggots, which were found to be the main cause of 
the trouble, the dog was very ill; he could walk with 
difficulty and it seemed very likely that he would die, but 
within twelve hours after the application of this simple 
remedy he had recovered. 

The greasewood is the ever-ready and unfailing rem- 
edy of the ranchero and of the Papago for all kinds of 
wounds. It is also taken internally in case of any gastric 
disturbance. The Mexicans have many remedies, but 
this is one about which there is no difference of opinion. 
For internal use, however, the parasitic growth of this 
bush is considered superior. The American frontiers- 
man by steeping the mashed leaves of the greasewood in 
water produces what he considers a wonderful laxative. 
The greasewood supplies a few of the not very numerous 
wants of the Papago. A piece of this wood tied to a 
sahuaro stick, for instance, furnishes a hook for bringing 
down fruit. The small rasping sticks which the medicine- 
man employs when treating members of a salt expedition, 




i\'H/ 



The lonely palo fierro 

An unusually large specimen on the llano, before arriving at Tinajas Altas 



Greasewood bushes 





Hauling palo fierro branches for camp fire at dusk 



THE ATTRACTIVE GREASEWOOD 223 

are made from greasewood, while those used for other 
purposes are made of various materials to fit the occasion. 
The secretions of a scale insect carteria, which are de- 
posited on the branches of this bush, serve the Papago for 
several purposes. Handles for the awls which the women 
employ in the manufacture of baskets are of this material, 
which is first dried in the sun and ground, then heated on 
a piece of crockery over the fire, and moulded into shape. 
Also balls for the foot-races are made from it, a stone being 
placed inside. Besides it serves for mending pottery. 

The greasewood is as hardy as the cactus and the har- 
diest of all the trees or bushes of the desert. It contents 
itself with poor soil if necessary, but it attains its finest 
development on the rich detritus of the llanos. Perhaps 
the varnish-like substance which covers its leaves and 
makes them sticky helps to protect the plant by preventing 
evaporation and its roots probably reach down very deep. 
However that may be, it is always flourishing, even in 
the fiercest heat. To me the greasewood is a symbol for 
health and an example of cheerful existence under adverse 
circumstances. It gives out an odor which it would be 
impossible to count among the perfumes of the world and 
which suggested the name creosote bush contemptuously 
applied to it. The Mexicans for the same reason call it by 
the uncomplimentary name hediondia. To some people 
like myself its odor, being salubrious, is more pleasant than 
otherwise. Though, strictly speaking, nothing in nature 
is ugly, the greasewood could not be called beautiful, ex- 
cept, perhaps, when covered in the spring with its small 
yellow, jolly flowers. It may be compared to a person 



224 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

radiant with health and good cheer, for which he is Hked, 
though he may not be handsome. Were I a poet, I should 
sing the praise of the modest greasewood of sterling qual- 
ities. 

Half a dozen quails looked lazily at us from the top of 
a large sand dune as we passed along. The small reddish 
tree called sangrengado was seen at intervals; its finer 
branches serve the Papago as material for basket making 
and, as well as the bark, offer tempting morsels for the 
mountain-sheep. The fragrant odor of copal was evi- 
dent for a little while, although we did not discover its 
source. 

We camped on the sand for the night. Although 
there was considerable galleta grass growing here and 
there, all the mules, donkeys, and horses gathered at once 
around a lone but very large palo fierro tree to eat its dark 
green juicy leaves, which they much preferred. They 
stretched their necks like giraffes in eager competition 
and, paying no heed to its numerous thorns, they pulled 
away mouthfuls of leaves. We usually cut down large 
branches, Mexican fashion, from which they could feed 
more comfortably. The palo fierro (olneya tesota) is to 
one who travels in the desert the most useful of all trees; 
whenever it is to be found, his animals are sure to get 
something good to eat, and the man who gathers wood 
for the camp first of all directs his steps toward it. Usually 
some of its branches are dry, and they furnish the very 
best camp-fire, especially for cooking purposes. In the 
cold winter, when a warm fire is needed, the traveller 
should look for a dry log of this kind. As the wood is 



SAND-HILLS 225 

extremely hard — hence its name, iron-wood — the easiest 
way to fell a dry tree is to make a fire round the base. It 
ignites easily and burns the whole night through without 
any further attention. During many months of travel in 
the desert, I was always thankful when I caught sight of 
this tree which harbors so much comfort for man and 
beast. In the spring, before the leaves come out, it has 
beautiful flowers of the pea family. 

There was, of course, no water here, but at this time 
of the year animals that are being worked do not suffer 
from going a couple of days without drinking. In the 
winter at Sonoita the horses running loose in the neighbor- 
hood come in to drink only every fourth day, and in the 
summer every third day. For our own consumption we 
had our generous barrels which we refilled when occasion 
offered. The sand was temptingly clean and made a 
soft bed, all the men delighting in it. The next day I re- 
mained behind with the guide in order to examine the sand 
dunes. That part of the sand-dune belt where we were, 
south of Pinacate, starts only twenty to twenty-five miles 
east of there. The height of a sand-hill that we ascended 
was one hundred and eighty-five feet, both my aneroids 
giving the same result. I calculated the length of its base, 
which was measured by the steps of our horses, to be at 
least two thousand eight hundred feet. There were others 
equally high or higher. Farther west, toward Laguna 
Prieta, are found the highest sand-hills, but they would 
probably not be much above two hundred feet, if measured. 
On top of the one we climbed, an absolute calm reigned. 
Toward the west as far as the eye could detect the dunes 



226 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

extended, like the sea when exposed to a strong gale in 
appearance, though with waves much more irregular. 
The large ones, forming the extreme northern part of the 
belt, were fewer than I expected. Southward from our 
hill the waves first became considerably smaller, then 
grew somewhat higher again before reaching the coast, 
where they ended in more or less irregular sand flats or 
low hills. The sea did not seem more than eight or nine 
miles away. 

The Mexicans use the euphonious name medanos 
for the sand dunes, great and small; in fact, the whole 
region along the upper part of the Gulf east of the Colo- 
rado River is thus designated. The name has an almost 
mystic sound, suggesting in the summer aridity and dan- 
ger, fierce heat, rattlesnakes, and other reptiles — in the 
winter cold wind, fog, and occasional drizzling rain. 

Most Mexicans are afraid of los medanos, as they 
themselves have told me, on account of the risk of losing 
animals and of the troubles in general connected with 
travel there. As is the case with all regions about which 
little or nothing is known, the sand region is reputed to 
harbor fabulous wealth of gold and silver in its hill-tops 
and mountain ranges, and a lonely prospector with a 
couple of donkeys sometimes attempts in the winter an 
exploration for these precious metals. His expectations 
may lead him farther than is prudent, and his canteens 
may give out too soon for him to have time to return for 
water. There is nothing depressing, however, about the 
sand dunes. In the late afternoon sun, when seen from 
the north, they look especially picturesque, running one 



CURIOUS BEHAVIOUR 227 

after the other in long, majestic, though somewhat uneven, 
waves of light roseate hue. 

A curious feature of the dunes south of Pinacate was 
a remarkable display of tracks made by the big beetle from 
which the whole region derived its Mexican name. These 
insects {eleodes), of which the body may be over an inch 
in length, were numerous at that time of the year in the 
northern part of the sand dunes. In certain localities 
they are the principal means of subsistence for the coyote. 
They wander far and wide on the sand, leaving surpris- 
ingly large tracks, most of which are fairly straight. The 
weather had been calm for twenty-four hours at least, and 
the tracks were even more distinct than those seen on cold, 
hard snow. The long lines ran almost parallel to each 
other across the great fans of sand that stretched down 
from the tops of the dunes. Some of them ran upward, 
for these beetles wander to the very summit. One of 
them in coming down the slope of a drift had amused him- 
self in going in a spiral line for many yards and then 
continuing in his ordinary fashion. The beetle to which 
this pictograph was due was undoubtedly a dijEferent 
species, because its tracks were somewhat lighter and 
the straight line less pronounced. Another one had for 
many yards followed the ridge of a sand drift, but pro- 
gressing all the while from one side to the other, and 
leaving low, hanging festoons from the top of the ridge 
in regular serpentine figure. Only one, making his way 
very straight and quite fast up the slope toward the ridge 
on which we stood, was actually seen. I was puzzled as 
to why these insects should go up there on the sand 



228 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

dunes, but, whatever their reasons were, they certainly 
left in their wake beautiful decorative marks hundreds 
of feet long. 

The pool called Tinaja de los Chivos was reached 
on a slowly rising lava flow ten miles north of the sand 
dunes. There is no grass within a mile or two of this 
camp, which derives its Mexican name from the vulgar 
designation of mountain-sheep as chivos, goats. Fuel is 
also scarce here. It is the largest of all the natural 
water tanks of the Pinacate and lasts longer than the 
rest. It is situated at the junction of two arroyos, and 
at one of them, a mile away, is found another reservoir, 
called Tinaja del Tule. The following morning the sky 
was overcast with stratus and light nimbus clouds, and 
the long even range of Lower California looked quite 
impressive in the hazy atmosphere. Before sunrise we 
had a beautiful tanager-red glow which extended over 
the western horizon before it assumed a blue hue. 

In order to reach the next place where water is 
found, Tinaja de los Papagos, a circuitous route has to 
be followed. In descending to the dunes again, we 
found a very good track which led to the head-quarters, 
four miles away, of the former sand-dune people. The 
trail was worn a foot deep in places, and stones had been 
removed to smoothe the path for the busy feet of the 
women who had to go this distance every day to fill their 
jars. We discovered two old camps at the edge of the 
dunes, each on a low sand ridge. There were the usual 
features of rude corrals of stones, but the sand inside of 
them had been scooped out, leaving a hollow. Some- 




I' \^ .. w 



'^^%^, - 







. Mountain sheep, female 



Tracks of beetles (Eleodes) on 
SAND dune 




Tracks of beetles (Eleodes) on sand dune 



OPPORTUNITY LOST 229 

times pits were noticed without any stones around them. 
On a plain near by feasts and ceremonies had in former 
times been performed, and among them the great annual 
festival which is now given at Quitovac. 

The afternoon turned out to be moderately warm 
and calm, the sun appearing now and then, and the 
weather, for the middle of January, was very enjoyable. 
I ascended a small ridge at one side of the track to get 
a better view of a crumbling and much serrated sierra 
which appeared in front of us, and near which we were 
going to camp. It showed two formations, most of it 
the usual gray, weather-worn granite, but at the south- 
eastern end an intrusion of a reddish rock had taken 
place, which proved afterward to consist of rhyolite with 
an oxydized rim of red. South of it at a short dis- 
tance stretched a low, jagged range, half buried in the 
sand. To the north-east, south of the Gila Range and 
far away at the end of a large llano, a single moun- 
tain was seen. It looked deep blue and, having no 
name, we called it Cerro Pinto, because its color is dif- 
ferent from the rest of the mountains. The distant 
country westward, directly in front of us, presented a 
sea of sand dunes that seemed to stretch on indefinitely, 
offering a fascinating vista. Just as the sun, breaking 
through the clouds, covered them with a brilliant white 
light, I turned around to secure my camera, and in doing 
so was delayed scarcely a minute, but when I looked 
again westward, while adjusting my kodak, all the 
magic of the scene was gone — the sun was hidden from 
view and all chance of photography over, though I 



230 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

waited half an hour for another. An opportunity to 
take such a picture never did return as long as the expe- 
dition lasted. The lesson I learned from this is appre- 
ciated by every one who is interested in photographing, 
and that is to be ever ready at the very moment the 
opportunity offers itself. 

While our animals were taken the next day for water 
to the tinaja ten miles away, I spent a day at the base of 
the much serrated sierra in order to examine this moun- 
tain range as well as the other one that is partly buried 
in the sand. I named the first one Sierra Extrana 
(Strange Sierra), because its gray color with a tinge of 
green seemed so strange to us after having been so long 
accustomed to the dark lava. It is only about six miles 
long, running in the main direction of the rest of the 
mountain ranges. The outer granite is crumbling more 
than on any other sierra observed on the journey, hence its 
native name, kokomaleke (small stone blocks). It is de- 
void of vegetation except for a few struggling ocotillos and 
greasewoods, and a sangrengado now and then. On the 
south-western side the wind has blown up the sand some- 
what on the sides, but, seen against the dark background 
of Pinacate, the little range with its exaggerated serra- 
tion shows to advantage. The other sierra, which I called 
Sierra Enterada (Buried Sierra), some six miles south of 
it, is nearly the same length, but lower, the crest reach- 
ing an elevation of about one thousand two hundred feet, 
three-quarters of it being buried in the sand dunes. From 
the top we could plainly discern the fresh tracks of a 
horse, leading westward through the great waste of sand. 



A FEARLESS BIRD 231 

My guide thought that a soKtary Indian called Carava- 
jales, one of the former sand people who persists in liv- 
ing out there, had passed. This hermit makes his head- 
quarters at the Tinaja de los Papagos. 

In the low sand dunes among the greasewood bushes 
I noticed once or twice a tiny spray of sand being thrown 
up as if caused by an ant lion, but the insect could not 
be found. I later came across a small representative of 
animal life here, a roach with long legs, which was known 
to my guide as found among the sand dunes, though 
he said it was rare. A mocking-bird {mimus), very 
inquisitive and which had evidently never seen people 
before, arrived in our camp and moved about fearlessly, 
passing my camera within four feet. It actually alighted 
on the toe of the shoe of one of the Mexicans who was 
sitting on the ground and next settled on the rim of a 
large dish, dipping itself repeatedly in the water and 
drinking of it. These birds are often seen far from 
water. 

Six miles before arriving at Tinaja de los Papagos 
we passed numerous burrows of the badger. This ani- 
mal, too, does not seem to care much as to whether he 
lives near water or not. When we came to the abode 
of the Indian hermit, Caravajales, who would have been 
a useful man to take along through the western desert, 
we found him to be absent. After sunset hundreds of 
pigeons came in a steady stream to drink, settling first 
on the rocks for several minutes before finally flying to 
the pools, two of which at that time contained water; 
the stony sides of the latter were literally covered with 



232 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

the birds, and after dark the last ones flew away. There 
are three pools in this wild-looking arroyo, which at the 
time of showers gather the precipitation for many miles 
up in the lava flow. The middle one was dry and the 
water in the others was low. The lower one, nearest 
our camp and very accessible for the animals, could not 
then, according to our guide's calculation, be made dry 
by three hundred head of cattle drinking at one time. 
Water can usually be depended upon at this camp. 

The watercourse, from forty to sixty paces wide, can 
easily be made out on the big hard andesite boulders 
from a distance, and, on examining the surface, it is 
found to be actually polished by the action of water 
and has rather a faded color. That such should be the 
case is very remarkable, considering the extreme hard- 
ness of the rock and the great length of time that would 
be needed to accomplish this effect, if the water were 
supplied only from a few showers in July and August. 
This seems to me another proof of the climatic change 
that has taken place in the desert region of Arizona 
and Sonora, the polish of the rocks probably dating 
from a comparatively recent time when precipitation 
was more abundant. 

The next day a tour was made to a large and beautiful 
crater, two and a half miles north-east of the tinaja, to 
which a fairly good track leads. In the morning before 
sunrise the same phenomenon of sunlight by refraction 
that I had noted twice before was observed, though the 
coloring was stronger; it was very noticeable in my tent, 
the light beginning twenty minutes before sunrise and 



i 

i 




HI^E^^^jlfflBpMf rf! ^.: ■ Mmml- ' 'j^ 


Efe''^''"---v-'""'^' 






yiin,: „ 




■*' ■'^Smm ^^H 





Crater Elegante 




The watercourse at Tinaja de Los Papagos 



A DESERTED HABITATION 233 

fading away a few minutes before the sun rose, and it 
was strongest twelve minutes before the actual appearance 
of the sun. 

Half a mile from the pools I photographed an Indian 
habitation, of which there are several in the neighborhood. 
They seem to be more recently deserted than others met 
with before ; in fact, as stated above, one man still has his 
abode there. The corral, or sleeping place of the family, 
was made up of a few stones and uprooted tovoso bushes 
placed in a circle. Between the stems of an ocotillo was 
a platform consisting of a layer of white brittle bush and 
tovoso. This had served as a shelf for jars and other 
cooking utensils. Though several years must have elapsed 
since this place was occupied, Clodomiro found an old 
spade hidden under the platform and some medicinal 
herbs, the latter wrapped in a cotton cloth. 

The crater is very easily approached. The rim is one 
hundred and thirty feet high at the place we ascended, 
which was at its highest point. To descend either from 
the south or the west into the crater involves no diffi- 
culty; it took Clodomiro, the guide, only twenty minutes 
to do so from the south. I have been down twice at this 
side to an embankment that runs around the crater inside 
just above where the talus begins. Measured by the 
aneroid barometer, this is two hundred and eighty feet 
down, and less than ten minutes are needed for the descent 
as one slides along on the cinders. The depth, taken by 
Mr. G. Sykes in 1907, seven hundred and thirty feet, ap- 
pears correct. He found the diameter at the bottom to be 
one thousand four hundred feet, and the bottom one hun- 



234 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

dred and fifty feet above sea-level. It is a beautiful and 
impressive crater, and was first visited in 1882 by Sr. 
Y. Bonillas, the mining engineer in Nogales. In grandeur 
and regularity of shape it is in the Pinacate region second 
only to Crater Elegante. There are several large craters 
in the Pinacate region, but none as perfect in shape as these 
two, which present very clearly the phenomena connected 
with their structure and origin and must be of unusual 
interest to geology. 

Clodomiro tried in vain to start out some mountain- 
sheep from below for me to photograph. He heard dis- 
tinctly the noise of rolling stones in the great talus and 
my attention was called in the same way. But it is 
strangely difficult to see the sheep under such conditions, 
as their color is so much like their surroundings, and, as 
the Mexicans said, "they stop behind the stones and you 
cannot see them." Clodomiro scaled the talus almost 
opposite to where he had made his descent, reaching the 
ledge that led to my point of observation, from which we 
again ascended to the rim. He saw many fresh tracks at 
the bottom, all of them being, according to him, those of 
females with young. During the entire year the moun- 
tain-sheep are in the habit of going down into the craters, 
but they are more prone to go there during the winter, 
when they have their young, which is said to be in Novem- 
ber. The vegetation below was the kind described at the 
time of our visit to Crater Elegante, and in addition there 
were many choyas seen. Both galleta grass and the fine 
grass called sacate Jino, or sacate de lievre, were observed 
there. 



CHAPTER XV 

WESTWARD— LOOKING BACK TOWARD PINACATE— TINAJAS ALTAS 
—ITS DISMAL MEMORIES— SUNSHINE AND MOONLIGHT OF THE 
EARLY MORNING— EL CAPITAN— LAGUNA PRIETA, A SALT LAKE 
—A LONG WAIT FOR WATER— HOW FRESH WATER APPEARS 
AMONG BULRUSHES— APPROACHING THE COLORADO RIVER— 
COLONIA LERDO— THE INDIANS AT THE LOWER PART OF THE 
GREAT RIVER 

On Thursday, January 20, a start for the Colorado 
River was made. Our guide, Clodomiro Lopez, and his 
brother, having first by explorations ascertained that it 
was feasible to do so, had taken several herds of cattle 
from Sonoita over our present camp to Laguna Prieta and 
from there to Colonia Lerdo on the Colorado River, their 
first trip having been made in October four years before. 
There are about eighty miles without water by the route 
which he chose and which is the straightest, and the 
undertaking would have been impossible but for his dis- 
covery of a small tinaja (natural tank) in Sierra de Lechu- 
gilla; even thus the risks taken were considerable, and 
many of the cattle died from thirst. 

The question for us to decide was whether we should 
follow the same route, hoping that there might be water 
in the Lechugilla tank, or whether we should take the more 
circuitous one over Tinaja del Tule and Tinajas Altas. 
Clodomiro, the guide, maintained that even though the 
tank lasts only for three months, our chances for finding 
water there were good, and even if it should turn out to be 

23s 



236 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

dry, we could reach Tinajas Altas in three days without 
water. I was incHned to accept the guide's opinion inas- 
much as our animals were in good condition after their 
long rest in Pinacate, but Alberto, who was the owner of 
some of them, was little inclined to take any chances, 
and as I should be able by the safer route to cover 
more ground, some of it of considerable interest to me, I 
chose that one. 

The sand dunes which stretch northward from the 
main belt, at no great distance west of Pinacate, are easily 
crossed. The long, low ridges run here in a general di- 
rection of north and south, forming a belt four miles and a 
half wide. The highest point reached was, according to 
my aneroid, about one thousand four hundred feet. In 
crossing this belt from the east one ascends very gradually; 
after a while small ridges, from a quarter to a half mile 
long, appear for about a mile; then for two and a half miles 
the ridges are larger though low, a mile or two, or more, 
long, and there is half a mile between each one. The last 
ones are the largest. I found the sand to contain moisture 
six inches below the surface, and at one place I gathered 
some of the beautiful large white flowers with which I be- 
came familiar later {oenothera trichocalyx). 

After a comfortable night spent on the outskirts of the 
sand dunes we proceeded in a northerly direction between 
two mountain ranges, to the east Sierra del Tuseral, about 
thirty-five miles long, and to the west a sierra without 
name, about seven miles long and running toward the 
first one in an unusual northerly course. As this moun- 
tain range looked singularly picturesque viewed from the 





jjMi '<&^^ J ii aiM<5 i.^ 



A BEAUTIFUL VIEW 237 

north-west, I have named it Sierra Nina for my friend, 
Mrs. John Gray, of Boston. Where these two ranges 
approach each other there are two passes, formed by a 
small intervening mountain; the western pass is the nar- 
rower, and I named the eastern, which is quite beautiful, 
Paso de Juana, for my friend, Mrs. David Lydig, of New 
York. 

This pass is only three hundred feet higher than the 
sand dunes we crossed, and the ascent is very gradual, 
but, as one looks backward on approaching the pass, one 
has, on account of the varied colors, a surprisingly fine 
view, enclosed between the two mountain ranges as if in 
a frame. The different shades of green in the desert 
vegetation, from the light one of the sahuaro and the oco- 
tillo to the very sombre one of the greasewood, are bor- 
dered by these two light gray diverging sierras, and some 
dark reddish foot-hills in the foreground add to the variety. 
Then follows transversely the light roseate hue of the sand 
belt and, above all, rises in the distant background, the 
dark mass of the Pinacate Mountains, appearing quite 
lofty through the pure air against the azure sky. 

At Tinaja del Tule we were again on the old trail 
from Caborca to Yuma, where we watered our animals 
and filled our barrels. The pool is half a mile up a 
narrow gorge and I was surprised at its small volume, 
only twelve feet in diameter and three feet deep in the 
middle. Still, as it is in sand, it contains somewhat 
more water than is apparent, and it would cover a horse 
standing in it. There are some smaller tanks higher up 
in the gorge which at times have water. As soon as 



238 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

our thirsty crew had been satisfied and had departed, 
two butterflies ahghted on the wet sand, one of medium 
size and brown, the other a small blue one. It was 
just noon and the canon felt pleasantly warm at 74° F. 

The landscape which from here on presents many 
sierras, at first near and then far, looked attractive in 
the afternoon sun, making the mountains impressive 
and seem much larger than they were in reality. We 
camped on the extensive llano bordering the Gila Range 
toward the east, near a palo fierro tree of unique size, 
which rises in lonely grandeur above the lowly grease- 
woods and is visible at a great distance. According to 
the Mexicans, a whole family of fourteen was wiped out 
here by the Papago Indians forty years ago; the Apaches 
never came so far west. Whether such is the case, or 
whether, as another report has it, the family perished from 
lack of water, their graves are to be seen near by marked 
by small stones placed in the surface so as to form crosses. 
There is no water here, but enough grass, both galleta and 
sacate fino, for pasture. 

The soil on the llano was moist underneath the sur- 
face which told us that during the stormy days of abor- 
tive attempts at rain, which we had experienced at the 
end of the year, rain had actually fallen here.* It fur- 
ther indicated that we should probably have found 
water in the small pool discovered by my guide in Sierra 
de Lechugilla, if we had chosen the more direct route 

* According to the reports of United States Weather Bureau, the rainfall at 
Yuma, which is sixty miles from here, was on December 31, 1909, only -^'Yty inch, 
and on January 2, 191 1, there fell j|(j- inch. 



A NOTED CAMP 239 

to Tinajas Altas. For the possible use of some future 
traveller, I give here its location as it was described to 
me. It is on the western side of the Sierra de Lechu- 
gilla, at the base of the highest top, and is situated at 
a point which from the north is one-third of the length 
of the entire range. 

As one approaches Tinajas Altas, little by little as- 
cending from the llano that stretches northward as far 
as the eye can follow, a beautiful view is had of the 
mountains left behind, and among them the picturesque 
range called Cabeza Prieta and the Tordillo Mountains, 
both of delicate light gray color with curious intrusions 
of very dark reddish rocks of volcanic origin. The range 
derives its name, which means ''black head," from this 
strange contrast of color. 

Tinajas Altas is a landmark in the local and recent 
history of that desolate region. It is a dismal looking 
place and, after having been accustomed to the absolute 
cleanliness of nature, the experience of again meeting 
with pieces of cast-off clothing, rusty tin cans, and other 
cheerless marks of human occupancy which were apparent 
here was not a pleasing one. There is a large space for 
camping at the lower end of the little valley which begins 
at the foot of the mountains where the principal pool is. 
An embankment of gravelly detritus shuts off the view 
toward the east, while high granite rocks, bare and hard, 
rise forbiddingly on the other sides. Large boulders which 
were once detached from the rocks above are lying at the 
base of the steep mountain sides. 

As a curious bit of information from the desert I 



240 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

may mention that at this camp, on January 23, I was 
bitten by a mosquito, a few large ones being about. 
The sierra is probably at this place narrower than else- 
where, though it must be nearly a mile across. When 
rain falls the formation is such as to favor the gathering 
of water into one stream which rushes down the eastern 
side and is retained in eight natural cavities, one above 
the other. The lowest tank is very accessible, but the 
rest are not, and there are stories of people having nearly 
come to grief on attempting to climb the steep and slip- 
pery sides. My guide told of a mountain-sheep that 
once, when cornered, tumbled down in trying to escape 
and fell into the lowest tank. A prospector in Tucson, 
who ascended to the top, described to me a large sand 
basin above the tinajas, a few hundred feet south of 
which are a number of caves where pictographs are seen 
as well as pounding-holes in the rocks. Not having 
been there myself, I give the information with reserve. 
The sand Papagoes had an important camp at Tinajas 
Altas. The native name of the place is Oovuak, ''where 
arrows {60) were shot (vuak)." Two of their hero gods 
shot arrows from each side of the range; one did shoot 
across, but where the arrow of the other one fell the pools 
came forth. 

Until recently mountain-sheep were extremely com- 
mon here. Travellers, who in our days pass only at 
long intervals, used to shoot them without any difficulty. 
On one of the three occasions that I visited this place 
a sheep watched us from the crest above for many min- 
utes. Their number has of late greatly decreased. Ten 




TiNAJAS AlTAS 



Clemente: Pap ago. 




Filling our barrels and canteens at Tinaja del Tule 



NUMBERS OF MOUNTAIN-SHEEP 241 

years ago, when the guide and his brother rested here in 
the middle of the day, they noticed sheep around the 
upper pool; the animals were having a siesta, but scenting 
intruders began to move off, walking up the mountains 
in a steady stream of forty-five by actual count. From 
curiosity the Mexicans climbed up to take a general look 
at things, and were astonished at the exceedingly strong 
odor left in the camping place of the sheep. On an- 
other occasion, in the winter, the brothers heard during 
the night a great deal of noise from the tops of the rocks 
that rise immediately above the camp. The sheep were 
tramping on the hard granite as if they were horses with 
iron shoes. It seemed uncanny to the men, and they 
thought of the many dead buried here; they began to 
imagine that perhaps the dead were moving about, and 
wrapped their blankets tighter around themselves. Clo- 
domiro, who otherwise is no coward, assured me that 
he would not care to sleep alone at this place, and Al- 
berto quite agreed with him. 

The locality harbors many unpleasant memories; in 
the days of the California gold excitement, as well as 
later, many people passed by here, and the lowest and 
most accessible pool did not last very long. Too ex- 
hausted to climb higher up, many died from thirst. 
Capt. D. D. Gaillard, of the International Boundary 
Commission, relates a pathetic story of three exhausted 
prospectors who perished at the foot of the almost ver- 
tical slope; their bodies were discovered a few days 
later, the fingers worn to the bones in their dying efforts 
to reach water which was found in abundance in the 



242 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

tank above. Others would fight for the possession of 
the water and kill each other. People were murdered 
who were suspected of carrying gold or other valuable 
possessions. The dead were buried on the top of the 
embankment that shuts off the view toward the east. 
A small cross of stones embedded in the ground indi- 
cates where a person is buried underneath. We counted 
fifty-four of such crosses here; time has perhaps de- 
stroyed as many more and there were many, no doubt, 
who were buried without any sign to mark the spot. 
Holes had been dug in the ground at three or four places 
in the hopes of finding riches, for tradition has it that 
travellers, their animals having given out or for other 
reasons, buried their treasures here, and even the camp- 
ing place had been searched for these. 

On the day of our departure for the Colorado River 
we coaxed our mules and horses in vain to drink; they 
had satisfied their thirst the day before and did not care 
for any more the next morning. The burros, however, 
which on the whole seem able to take better care of 
themselves, went to the pool voluntarily and prepared 
for the day by drinking. The sierra is easily crossed 
by a circuitous route a little farther north which finally 
takes one through a natural pass. Coming out on the 
western side, that which appears most striking is a pict- 
uresque sierra rising boldly from among great sand 
dunes toward the south. It can also be seen from Pina- 
cate and from the Colorado River. It looked deep blue 
in the hazy and calm afternoon as we began to leave 
it behind. Though not visited by whites, according to 



UNUSUAL SUNRISE 243 

reports, this mountain range has received various names, 
of which the most appropriate is Sierra del Rosario. 

The next morning, Tuesday, January 25, I again, 
and for the fourth time, saw sunshine by refraction, and 
this time along v^ith the moonlight of the early morning. 
The sun shone into my tent, the opening of which looked 
toward the north-east, for twenty-three minutes before it 
rose, and the full moon was bright at the same time for 
five minutes. Although the coloring in general was light 
orange red, and in the east brilliantly so, the moon was 
surrounded by a deep blue light. During the night there 
had been a strong breeze from the north which had 
died out, and a light air current only from the same 
direction remained. There were cirrus and stratus 
clouds about; the atmosphere became more and more 
hazy, and when the moon set, which was as far as it 
was possible to judge correctly, eleven minutes before 
seven, the atmosphere was so hazy that one could fancy 
oneself at a seaport instead of in a dry desert. Although 
a moderate northern gale sprang up at ten o'clock in the 
morning, the atmosphere continued hazy. 

We passed Monument 194 and continued our course 
toward a lonely hill which had been visible on the west- 
ern horizon since our exit from the sierra. For future 
travellers this is a very important landmark; it leads in 
the right direction toward Laguna Prieta, where the first 
fresh water will be found after leaving Tinajas Altas. 
I called this mountain El Capitan. 

The extensive flat country over which we passed slopes 
gradually down to the sand dunes. In parts it consists 



244 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

of small fertile basins where sunflowers {encelia erioce- 
phala) and two kinds of hcrba del negro, sphceralcea 
incana and s. oruttii, grew, especially the latter, which 
appeared in great numbers. Though waterless, the re- 
gion has in a few places, as for instance near El Capitan, 
excellent pasturage and this favorable condition continues 
almost up to the Colorado River; at first our animals 
depended upon the coarse galleta grass which was then 
green, but beyond Laguna Prieta there appeared more 
of the delicate looking grass called sacate fino, which 
grows desert-fashion, each plant widely separated from 
the other, and is much liked by cattle and horses. 

El Capitan is in reality several hills. Of the two 
nearest to our approach, the south-eastern one, El Capi- 
tan proper, consists of slate; the other one is a limestone 
formation, in horizontal, varicolored streaks of white, 
brown, and slate. For about a mile before reaching El 
Capitan we crossed small mesas covered with smooth, 
very pretty, water-worn pebbles, of jasper and quartz, 
which my men eagerly gathered as curios. They were 
also observed later by the thousands in similar localities 
as far as the Colorado River, and were souvenirs of a 
time when that whole country was under the sea. 

To reach Laguna Prieta was a more laborious task 
than we had expected. It seemed a long distance, and 
as the guide and I rode along behind the rest of the 
party, I expressed my astonishment at his feat of having 
taken cattle over this route and successfully arriving at 
the Colorado River. No tracks were to be seen any 
more except indistinctly at one place, as the wind soon 




LA(.1 .\A I'kll.IA, 1 RDM 




In the sand dunes before arriving at Laguna Prieta 



A PRECARIOUS UNDERTAKING 245 

obliterates them. Clodomiro told me the cattle were 
driven by him and his companions from Tinaja de los 
Papagos in a direct Hne over the sand dunes, passing 
the southern point of Sierra del Viejo, to the small pond 
in Sierra de Lechugilla, but they were too weak to reach 
the water which is not very accessible. The horses only 
could get at it, and a detour for water for the cattle had 
to be made to Tinajas Altas. Six days were consumed by 
the journey to Laguna Prieta, the majority of the cattle 
arriving safely, though every day some dropped behind 
to die from thirst. From sunrise to sunset the cattle 
walked slowly in single file and scattering to eat wherever 
grass appeared. A halt was made at night when the men 
watched them. On a later occasion a hundred remained 
behind, and at the last undertaking of this kind by other 
herdsmen, the whole herd was abandoned near Cerro Pri- 
eto, most of them finding their way back to Agva Salada. 
For the last three miles before reaching Laguna 
Prieta we crossed the western extremity of the sand 
dunes, which attain their greatest height here, two or 
three of the hills being at least two hundred feet high. 
The lake is at the edge of the big dunes on their southern 
side, and the comparatively large sheet of water made a 
pleasing impression. Just as we descended toward it a 
white coyote was observed running away from the shore. 
At first sight, we took it for a pelican; my unruly mule 
prevented me from getting my field-glass quickly enough, 
but the Mexican who rode 1 Mnd me saw distinctly that 
the apparition had four legs. An albino coyote, which 
was very shy, was once seen near Caborca. 



246 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

Camp was made on a slightly elevated ground near 
the shore at the south-west end of the lake. Two large 
mezquite trees were growing here; they were rather ab- 
ject looking as they had no leaves, but the guide had 
seen them with beautiful foliage in the month of May. 
Laguna Prieta is a salt water lake, but on the marshy 
shore an abundance of fresh water may be found by dig- 
ging in the extensive growth of typha latipholta, popu- 
larly called bulrushes, which are thriving here; the Mex- 
icans call them tule. At three places the earth had been 
dug away so as to make troughs two feet deep, twelve 
feet long and six feet wide, which were full of clear water. 
Many years ago, I understand, attempts at cattle raising 
were made by people from the Colorado River with this 
water as base for operations. The water, though slightly 
brackish, does not taste bad, but among the Mexicans 
of Colonia Lerdo it is reputed to have an ill effect on 
horses, as some of them when thirsty have been known 
to die from drinking it. 

The lake is half a mile long and slightly less than 
that distance wide, running from south-west to north- 
east. Birds from the sea were swimming in the water 
which, according to the guide, becomes very low In 
May. The shores are soft and along the south-western 
part overgrown with bulrushes and reeds, while on the 
northern part the arrowbush is found. Our mules and 
horses had had no water to drink for seventy-six hours, so 
I remained here a day In order to give them a rest. 

In the first evening spent here, Thursday, January 
27, Venus on nearing the horizon shone with a reddish 



CONTINGENCIES OF THE DESERT 247 

twinkling or scintillating light. I do not know whether 
this had been the case for some time or not — perhaps 
not, for usually in the evenings I cast a few observing 
glances around the heavens. The following evening the 
planet on approaching the horizon at three or four de- 
grees assumed this same color which was very notice- 
able when only a couple of degrees above it. 

The first day's travel over low sand dunes from La- 
guna Prieta was rather heavy, and our horses began to 
give out. Fortunately, as we reached a llano toward 
sunset, we came upon patches of grass. The only wood 
available consisted in old stumps of the curious canu- 
tillo {ephedra) which now made its first appearance. It 
is one of the lowest types of the flowering plants with 
only rudimentary flowers, and in spite of its appearance 
is not related to the pines. On account of much resin- 
ous matter which it contains, the plant enjoys a great 
reputation among Mexicans as a remedy to be taken 
internally against a certain contagious disease. Fuel re- 
sources being rare on the coast, the canutillo is very 
useful for making fire. It burns lustily for a little while, 
but as it makes no charcoal, we could not boil beans 
by it; tortillas, however, may be made with some little 
trouble. I picked up two long-stalked puff balls {hal- 
tarea) which were growing in the shade of a chamiso. 
They were dry, but the sand was moist around the 
roots, two and a half inches below the surface. 

Already at El Capitan we had seen rising in the west 
a thick column of smoke. The Indians were burning 
dry reeds, bushes, and old grass along the Colorado 



248 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

River about thirty-five miles away, and it seemed like a 
distant greeting. As our party approached the wide 
bed of the river, a cloud of smoke from the same source 
again appeared as if it were being emitted by a volcano. 
We passed through thickets of willows, mezquites, arrow- 
bushes, etc., and then among marshes covered with bul- 
rushes and reeds. There were also muddy places where 
the surface had a thin layer of salitre. We found our- 
selves near the great river which starts in distant Wyo- 
ming, at an elevation of ten thousand feet, and, after a 
tumultuous course of nearly two thousand miles, reaches 
the sea through Mexican territory. Early in the after- 
noon we arrived at Colonia Lerdo, a very small Mexi- 
can settlement on the lower part of the river. Two 
miles before reaching this place we had passed a small 
river, the so-called Rillito Salado, part of the Colorado 
River, which in May and June becomes so large that 
boats have to be used for crossing, some of which were 
lying on the beach. 

It was the end of January and the weather was calm, 
clear, and pleasant with a temperature in the warmest 
part of the day ranging from 74° to 78° F. in the shade. 
Every morning before sunrise the sonorous voices of the 
cranes (grus) were heard as flocks of them passed by. 
Some mosquitoes and flies were about, and during the 
summer these become a pest. Gnats, trying to get into 
eyes and ears, are always present here, but they were 
not very annoying at that time. From April to Septem- 
ber is the season when all such obnoxious insects abound. 
The climate is very wholesome. 




Indians burning eeeds and grass on the Color.\do Ri\^r 



Approaching Laguna Prieta 



THE MOUTH OF COLORADO RIVER 249 

According to local information, the first settlement 
here was in 1872. A Mexican company tried to exploit 
the agricultural possibilities of the region with irriga- 
tion, as well as those of a certain fibrous plant (sesbania 
macrocarpa) that grows in the delta. The enterprise 
came to grief, and an American company which later 
took the matter up seems to have had no better suc- 
cess. If the information conveyed to me is correct, the 
notoriously changeable river carried away three colony 
sites, the first one situated one mile west of the pres- 
ent one, and the second and third were a little nearer 
to It; the fourth, and present one consists of two 
ranches belonging in reality to one Mexican family 
which has survived the various vicissitudes of coloniza- 
tion. They raise cattle, wheat, maize, beans, squashes, 
and watermelons. The soil is rich and I was told that 
one sweet potato grown here weighed twenty-five pounds. 
The inhabitants are Mexicans with the pleasant char- 
acteristics of this people. Of late years Sr. Sandoval, 
the banker of Nogales, had begun to keep cattle on the 
river fourteen miles below; there were about four hun- 
dred head and they seemed to be doing very well. Be- 
sides the grama grass, the sacate Colorado and the 
so-called sacate salado, the seeds of which are eaten 
by the Indians, furnish pasturage. The cattle will also 
eat the leaves of the chamiso bush as well as those of 
bulrushes (tule) when green. 

It was pleasant to meet at this place an Englishman, 
Lord Osborne Beauclerk, who, accompanied by the Can- 
adian geologist, Mr. Warburton Pike, had made a boating 



250 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

and sporting trip to the upper part of the Gulf of Califor- 
nia. Lord Osborne was a much-travelled man who had 
visited parts of Asia to shoot mountain-sheep of which 
sport he had made a specialty. They were on their way 
back to Yuma, and kindly replenished my depleted larder 
with rice, sugar, and other articles which were much ap- 
preciated. 

Only three Lidian families were living at Colonia 
Lerdo, and they had no cultivated fields. They were 
mostly old people and I found them to be Apache Tontos 
from Lower California, who intermarry with the Cocopa 
Indians, only one of whom was present. There was little 
of Interest to be gained from an interview with an old 
Apache Tonto who lived here with his family. He sold 
me his bow which Is large and made of willow. Among 
the arrows was one without plumes which is used for 
killing fish, and with these there was a club of light wood, 
colored red with ochre, as also a bunch of hawk and heron 
feathers with a rattle from a rattlesnake attached. Two 
weeks previously he had killed with a stick twenty large, 
fat fish which had been entrapped in a waterhole that was 
evaporating. He had dried the fish which smelled very 
strongly of rancid oil. 

The Cocopa Indians live along the lower part of the 
Colorado River, nearly all of them within the boundary 
of Mexico, and plant their crops in the fertile river de- 
posits. The head-quarters were formerly some miles west 
of Colonia Lerdo, between the Hardle and Colorado Rivers. 
They are considered by the Mexicans of the Colonia to 
be well off, raising wheat, maize, the ordinary brown 



COCOPA INDIANS 251 

beans as well as the small white beans called tepari, and 
yurimurl, black beans. They own wagons and American 
ploughs and are able to sell some maize and watermelons. 
Cipriano Dominguez, of Colonia Lerdo, who later served 
me as guide, in 1900 took a census of the tribe and es- 
timated their number then at one thousand two hundred. 
Their principal rancherias to-day are, according to him, 
Noche Buena, where about twenty families live, many of 
whom seek work at Yuma and return when the river 
rises to plant crops; Mexical with some forty to fifty 
families, Pescador with fifteen families, and Pozo Vicente, 
which is the largest, containing over a hundred families. 
Formerly they all lived in Noche Buena, Algodones, Pozo 
Vicente, and La Colonia. According to the same inform- 
ant, they suffered little damage from the change of the 
course of the Colorado River, though on account of it 
many went to Pozo Vicente and over thirty families live 
in Yuma, working for the Americans. 

The Cocopa burn their dead. In case of illness the 
patient abstains from food and drink. Persons suspected 
of witchcraft are often killed. The tribal name of these 
Indians is Xawilkunyavcei, which means: those who live 
on the river (xawil, river). They are reputed to be very 
hospitable and, to quote the same informant, "They are 
the best Indians I know. If a Mexican or American loses 
his way, these Indians take care of him, give him food, 
and show him the road." The usual diseases acquired 
through contact with "civilization" are found in the 
tribe, and many die from syphilis. Formerly the Cocopa 
were in constant conflict with the Yuma Indians, but they 



252 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

were friendly with the Apache Tonto, Maricopa, and 
Papago. 

Here our animals had a much-needed rest of four days. 
One of the horses had to be left, but our mules were all 
right, and the burros, with one exception, a young animal, 
were in better condition than at the start. On our re- 
turn journey along the coast, it was very desirable to 
secure a guide, but the one man here, Cipriano Domin- 
guez, who knew the coast for some distance, was unfort- 
unately away in Lower California with a party of Ameri- 
can sportsmen from the Middle West. It was not pos- 
sible to wait for his return, which was uncertain, and, 
even without a guide, I would have attempted to reach 
Pinacate by a new route rather than return in the same 
way we had come. As good luck would have it, the man 
arrived the day before our departure and was at once en- 
gaged to go with us as far as he knew the way. Having 
had to walk the last fifteen miles barefoot, he needed a day 
in which to recuperate and was to overtake us the next 
morning, it being easy to follow our tracks in the sandy 
soil. From my experience on the coast journey from here 
to Pinacate, I would consider it hazardous to undertake 
the trip without a guide on account of the extreme diffi- 
culty in discovering where there is water. It is known 
to exist only at certain places, some of which it would have 
been highly improbable that we should find, in spite of 
the directions and descriptions given me by the Indian 
medicine-man in Quitovaquita. Besides water is, as a 
rule, found on the coast only by digging for it, and there 
may be no indication of its presence except to one long ex- 



A NECESSARY ADJUNCT 253 

perienced in finding it. A spade is an essential part of 
the explorer's outfit for this trip. We saw tracks of a 
man on horseback who had travelled along close to the 
beach. He may have been a runaway from justice who, 
according to the opinions of the Mexicans with me, must 
have finally perished for lack of water. 

In the afternoon a fire started in the dry reeds and 
grass on the other side of the former bed of the river 
where our animals were in good pasture, and we were 
obliged to bring them over to our side. A strong gale 
from the south-west increased the fire in magnitude and 
fierceness, and in the evening it threatened to destroy the 
houses of the Indians, when suddenly a change of wind to 
a northerly direction brought relief, and the fire died away 
after a few hours. The Indians no doubt had made it 
purposely, for they were just at this time busily engaged 
in such work all along the river, in the usual Indian be- 
lief that smoke produces rain and clouds. 



CHAPTER XVI 

TRAVELLING ALONG THE GULF OF CALIFORNIA— DELIGHTFUL 
CLIMATE— KILLING A PORPOISE— FISHING— FRESH WATER ON 
THE BEACH— UNATTRACTIVE DRINKING WATER— FINE VIEWS 
—A GREAT SALT DEPOSIT— EXTRAORDINARY OCCURRENCE OF 
SPRINGS— HARD TRAVEL— THE PAPAGO SALT EXPEDITIONS- 
WORSHIP OF THE SEA 

We passed a swamp known locally under the name of 
El Doctor, where fresh water is found by digging a couple 
of feet down among the bulrushes. On a low sandy 
bluff which rises a few feet above the swamp, a jacal had 
been erected, and near this our guide and his brother 
once experimented with the agricultural possibilities of 
the sand, water being carried from the swamp; beans, 
maize, squashes, and watermelons gave very satisfactory 
results. The marsh is on the edge of a great playa that 
runs south-east of the river down to the sea, the eastern 
limit of the delta. We followed the edge of the playa 
until we reached the sea, travelling most of the time on 
high ground and afterward along the bases of desiccated 
sand cliffs. 

Salitre frequently covers small plains of soft soil. 
There was no trail to follow, though an American auto- 
mobile from Yuma once tried to reach what is called the 
"harbor" of Santa Clara. The automobile had to be 
abandoned at the edge of the playa at a camping place 
of the same name, the Americans walking thence on foot. 
From the "harbor" which, according to our guide, is 

254 



THE DELTA OF THE RIVER 255 

twenty-five feet deep, runs a narrow and shallow inlet 
or slough, passing the camp of Santa Clara and extend- 
ing some twenty-five miles beyond, the sea at high tide 
coming up that far. Before arriving at this camp one 
may obtain a fine view of some of the river delta by going 
to the edge of the bluff of sand cliffs which began a few 
miles east of El Doctor and farther on rises for a hundred 
feet or more above the playa. The many clumps of bul- 
rushes (tulares) observed from there growing down on the 
great mud-flat near the edges are a curious feature. On 
account of the action of the wind these isolated clumps 
of coarse plants look half conical in shape. According 
to my guide they all contain fresh water. Tracks led 
to some of them, the cattle having learned that water 
should be sought here. At the foot of the bluff, before 
arriving at Santa Clara, there is a spring of tepid water, 
and the cattle drink this too, though it contains some 
sulphur. 

If my guide is correct, at very high tid^s the sea 
washes over most of this playa, which is sixteen miles wide 
at the mouth of the river, but fresh water may still be 
found where the bulrushes grow. In digging among them 
the water at the surface may be salty, but two or three 
feet lower it is found to be fresh; he said that such is 
always the case and my own experience on this expedition 
confirms it. In our camp at Santa Clara on the edge of 
the playa, it was a novel sight to behold fresh water where 
the ground all around was covered with a deposit of 
salitre as white as new fallen snow. There were small 
salt water lagoons near by, but bulrushes were also grow- 



256 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

ing, and when a hole two and a half feet deep had been 
made in the sandy mud near the big plants, good water, 
insignificantly brackish, gradually seeped in. The cacha- 
nilla, or arrowbush, is also considered to be a good sign 
of water. 

On the playa were hundreds of coyote tracks. Several 
robins appeared near our waterhole during the afternoon. 
Thousands of old sea-shells covered the surface along the 
lower parts of the sand ridges which were fifteen or twenty 
feet higher than the playa. I had frequently observed 
sea-shells through the western part of the desert on the 
ground at a considerable distance from the coast; they 
were found to an extent which makes it seem unlikely that 
they could have been carried there by the Indians. Near 
La Nariz and at La Salada fragments of dosinia ponderosa 
were encountered. 

On reaching the beach we found driftwood lying about 
in the shape of trunks and branches of cotton-wood and 
willow, which the river had carried along in its course to 
the sea. Several specimens of plants in flower were seen 
on the low sand dunes near the beach, among them 
cenothera trichocalyx. At times we turned off and up onto 
these low sand-hills, but we were never over a mile from 
the sea, during the first part of our journey, and usually 
less. It was the first week of February, and the weather 
was altogether delightful, remaining almost calm for 
several days. The temperature was pleasantly warm, 
from 60° to 70° F. about noon, and at night it would fall 
as low as 31° F, though it did not feel as cold as that. 
One afternoon some nimbus clouds appeared in the west 





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THE ENCHANTING SEA 257 

against the intensely blue sky; rain fell from some of them, 
but it evaporated before it reached half-way down to the 
sea. 

Our first camp on the Gulf was made among the sand 
dunes a few yards from the beach itself. A porpoise had 
inadvertently become entrapped here as the tide receded, 
and Alberto, who was with the pack train ahead of me, 
discovered it splashing near the sea. Actuated by the 
savage desire to kill everything that is alive, which most 
human beings have, he approached it and murdered it 
with a shot from his pistol. The blood, according to his 
description, spouted forth like a fountain, and one shot 
was sufficient. When the sun was setting three flocks of 
cranes passed us flying westward, the last flock number- 
ing about a hundred. 

The next day for nearly three miles at a stretch we 
followed a lovely beach, the ripples of the sea often wash- 
ing lazily over the horses' hoofs, while a soft breath of air 
was wafted from the south-west. The big horse of Clodo- 
miro, who rode beside me, stopped often to try to drink 
from the sea, so he dismounted, unfastened the bridle, and 
let it judge the water for itself. A great many curlews 
were walking on the mud-flats and sea-gulls were about, 
but all seemed to be somewhat on their guard against us. 
As the tide came in great numbers of fish began to sport 
at the edge of the water, often jumping out of it, especially 
around the small rocky promontories. 

By common impulse we stopped at a promising place 
in order to replenish our larder from that wealth of ani- 
mal life. To be sure, dynamiting is very poor sport, but 



258 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

under such conditions as the present ones, where one 
could not afford to waste any time in the securing of 
needed provisions, it seemed permissible to use this rough 
but ready way. After the small explosions the men 
eagerly ran out up to their waists and caught with their 
hands the dead or stupefied fish, throwing them ashore, 
and one of them gathered big, fat mullets in his straw hat. 
The result was thirty-one excellent fish, all of the same 
kind, which provided us with superb food for several days. 
The upper part of the Gulf abounds in fish. Our new 
guide told me that on his recent expedition with the Amer- 
icans he had caught about a thousand fish in one of the 
ancient stone enclosures of the Indians constructed for 
this purpose. He repaired the corral and during one 
night this great number was entrapped. The Americans, 
however, not wanting so many, threw half of them back 
into the sea. 

Later in the afternoon our animals had a much needed 
drink from a spring on the beach itself, only a hundred 
yards from the sand cliffs. Nobody would suspect fresh 
water here, and its discovery by Cipriano was due to the 
actions of a coyote excavating to reach it. The water 
showed no movement and the spring is covered by the 
tide. In a similar manner fresh water is found on the 
beach of Puerto de Libertad, to which people from Cab- 
orca and Altar go in the early summer. There at low 
tide the men come with spades to water their animals. 

That night we spent behind a low ridge of sand dunes 
at a place which our guide had named Tornillal, after a 
number of tornillos, screw-bean trees {prosopis puhescens). 



LONELINESS AND DESOLATION 259 

growing there. The screw-beans, which are considered by 
the Mexicans to have as much nutritive value as oats, are 
eaten by mules and donkeys, but rarely by horses. The 
Indians eat them toasted and ground into a pinole. We 
made camp on a patch of clear level ground which on 
account of its clayish consistency was cracked with deep 
furrows. In spite of a light cover of salitre which ap- 
peared in many places, there was still among the surround- 
ing sand-hills enough grass for our animals, although in 
the coast country this was more scarce than before. 
Quails were running about on the dune back of our camp, 
and the singing of other birds was heard, but the place 
was not attractive. The presence of screw-bean trees, at 
that time without leaves, and of such bushes as the qua- 
viri and the chamiso did not help to relieve the impres- 
sion of loneliness and desolation of the landscape. The 
sand people used to camp here on fishing expeditions or 
on their way to the Colorado River, and I was curious to 
see where fresh water was to be found. Cipriano pointed 
out a shallow hole in the dry, clayish soil, under an arrow- 
bush; there water had been found before, and by digging 
down four feet deeper we discovered some, but it was 
unusually repulsive, dark-brown in color though fairly 
clear, and smelling of sulphuretted hydrogen, very salt, 
and as bitter as any medicinal mineral water. Its color 
was possibly due to the screw-beans, as I later on saw the 
earth black underneath these trees. 

It was the worst water used on our expedition; but 
it did fairly well, with Liebig's extract, which requires 
much salt, and under the circumstances we were glad to 



26o NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

fill our barrels with it. Only one of us was ill for a few 
days from its effect. We worked our way up to the top 
of the cliffs, consisting of a clayey calcareous sand, which 
attain here a height of from one hundred and fifty to two 
hundred feet, and arrived at a hard sand mesa. A flat, 
extensive country now presented itself to our view; across 
it to the north is seen the picturesque Sierra del Rosario 
among the sand dunes, while in front to the east north- 
east Pinacate rises dark and gloomy in the distance. To 
the east are seen two large stretches of sand dunes and 
also one to the north-east. The vast expanse of land, not 
quite level, with its stunted growth of bluish-gray chamiso, 
yellowish-green greasewood, and tufts of green galleta 
grass reminded me of certain flats one occasionally meets 
with in the Norwegian highlands. We followed an old 
Indian track along the edge of the mesa, sometimes pass- 
ing only a few yards from the steep descent of the sand 
cliffs to the beach, where two black pelicans were seen. 
At noon a dense, snow-white fog filled the Gulf, reaching 
up to our elevation. Above it in the west rose the blue 
sierra of Lower California, the highest point discernible 
being San Pedro Martiro. As the cliffs became lower 
we again descended to the beach where we camped among 
the sand dunes. The deep blue sky was clear, but the 
humidity in the evening was very great, and all our things 
felt wet. It was pleasant to be lulled to sleep by the sound 
of the lazy waves against the beach, which awakened, I 
do not know why, memories of a trip to that charming 
spot. Bar Harbor, in Maine. 

A distance of only three miles inland, but necessi- 



SALINA GRANDE 261 

tating laborious travel over sand dunes, brought us to 
the largest salina in that part of the country. As soon 
as the top of the dunes is reached, a very small one 
is discovered, about a quarter of a mile in diameter, 
and near by is an arm of the large one, reaching toward 
the south-west within a mile and a half from the sea. 
This salt deposit has sometimes been called Salina 
Grande, which may be accepted as its name. Surrounded 
by sand dunes of medium size, it appears to be from 
twenty to thirty feet above sea-level. It is, two miles 
long at its greatest length, running south-west and north- 
east, the south-western end being quite narrow. It is 
three-quarters of a mile wide at its broadest part, and 
this breadth is maintained for at least half a mile, where 
the most valuable part of it is. Walking across it, I 
found the salt hard and beautifully white, and the middle 
section appeared deep. This sahna has been visited by 
few people, among them Sr. Jose Y. Tapia, the mining 
surveyor of Altar, who, as most people, entered from the 
Pinacate region. He calculated that it contained seven 
million tons of salt. I understand that a French com- 
pany, which for some years worked a gold mine, after- 
ward abandoned, near Caborca, also examined this de- 
posit. Much fresh water is present and some day, when 
railroad communication shall have been established, the 
Salina Grande will prove to be of great commercial value. 
As Cipriano Dominguez did not know the road any 
further, he returned to his home, and we spent the day 
here where the animals had good water and a rest, while 
the interesting physico-geographical conditions of the 



262 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

region occupied my attention. A peculiar feature is the 
prevalence of fresh water springs on the flat northern 
shore of the salina; a few of them unite and form a 
small, gently running stream which disappears into the 
salt. In the two mornings of our stay herons were 
standing in line like grenadiers, along this little fresh 
water flow. The somewhat circular clusters of bul- 
rushes scattered on the northern shore at the widest part 
of the salina were as usual indications of fresh water, 
but here the water was in sight. Moreover, it was pres- 
ent in remarkable circular reservoirs of greater or less 
regularity of shape, the best preserved ones, stripped 
of their plant growth, resembling small shallow craters, 
most of which were filled by a hill in the middle. 

A rim surrounded the depression about the hill where 
fresh water is found. Bulrushes covered the little hill 
and in most cases also the depression, or at least parts of 
it. The composition of the reservoir was the same as 
that of the shore or playa — sand with an apparent mixt- 
ure of clay. These curious springs numbered sixteen; 
not all equally distinct in their formation, but in the main 
features their similarity could usually be traced. The 
Mexicans had the convenient word pozo (well, waterhole) 
for this peculiar formation. 

I examined eight of these, all of different sizes and 
recognizable at a distance by their growths of bulrushes. 
The one which was nearest the sand dunes and at which 
we were camped was a hundred feet in diameter; the 
sand heap in the middle was five feet high, and the rim 
a foot and a half. The little hill was densely covered with 



A pozo AT Salina Grande, seen erom the east 

The rim is plain; most of our animals are standing inside of it. Screwbean trees and bulrushes on the inside hill 




TlIK SAMIC I'OZO, SKKN 1R<JM TlUC WEST 
Our camp is a few feet from the fresh water of the depression 




Salina Grande in its northern part, showing many of the pozos or tulares 



CURIOUS SPRINGS 263 

bulrushes and the depression also, but to a less extent. 
An abundance of fresh water, only slightly salt, could be 
seen among the plants and there was no necessity for using 
the spade to get at it. Other pozos were twenty feet in 
diameter, with a depression two feet deep. The largest 
of them was located a couple of hundred yards from 
our camp, farther out on the shore or playa. This was 
about two hundred feet in diameter and had a remark- 
ably regular rim, three-quarters of which rose three feet 
above the playa, the rest being lower. This contained 
more water than any of those visited and looked like 
an overgrown pond; the water here was quite nice to 
the taste and only negligibly salt. 

One of these pozos was still further out, actually in 
the salt bed, where the soft salt cover became more 
solid, and here the water was perfectly fresh. One 
small pozo which contained much water had no hill in 
the middle. An extraordinary feature of these forma- 
tions was that water actually may be found on top of 
the sand heap in the middle. Climbing up one of them 
which was unusually high, about ten feet, I found that a 
coyote had scratched a hole four feet above the depres- 
sion, and this was filled with water. The sand on top 
was mixed with some black vegetable matter and was 
extremely moist; a small hole I scooped out with my 
hand was immediately filled with fresh water. I sup- 
pose these curious formations in the sandy soil of the 
shore are due to the action of water that at one time 
must have been stronger than now. There is no moun- 
tain range nearer than the isolated Sierra del Rosario, 



264 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

thirty-five miles to the north. Sand dunes are still char- 
acteristic of the country for miles further on. It seems 
as if the presence of so much fresh water here must pre- 
suppose its existence underneath the western area of the 
desert of the District of Altar and extending perhaps up 
into southern Arizona. 

Besides two kinds of bulrushes {typha, in Spanish 
tule), some arrowbushes are found growing over the 
reservoirs and the latter looked more intensely green 
than usual. In the depressions grew also the grass 
called sacate salado, and sometimes also screw-bean 
trees, a considerable number of which are present on 
the north-eastern part of the shore where the little fresh 
water stream originates. A plant {anemonopsis califor- 
nica) called by the Mexicans herha del manso was a 
singular growth in these pozos. Its large root, which has 
a strong medicinal scent, like that which characterizes 
an apothecary shop, is perhaps the most popular of the 
many favorite remedies of northern Mexico. It is used 
internally to cure colds, coughs, or indigestion, as well as 
externally for wounds or swellings, and is employed in 
a similar way by the Indians. Of the latter, those who 
lived in the dune country are said to have been in the 
habit of chewing bits of this root, as elsewhere tobacco is 
chewed. These plants grew here in great numbers and to 
enormous proportions; some of their roots were as much 
as three feet long and very heavy. The root finds a ready 
sale everywhere and my Mexicans were not long in 
gathering as many of the plants as they could carry on 
their animals. One of the men, whose horse was well- 



' A POZO AT THE EDGE OF SaLINA GrANDE 
In the foreground, visible in part, rim, fresh water, and hill. The trees are screwbeans. 




■iS^ 



A POZO AT Salina Grande 

Inside hill, burned over, appears in central part. On top of hill fresh water was found 



BEAUTIFUL SAND FORMATIONS 265 

nigh exhausted, walked himself in order to put a load 
of fifty pounds on his horse. 

Animal life seemed scarce here, though two ravens 
darted repeatedly with angry cries toward my white 
terrier, as if they wanted to strike him for daring to 
compete with them in the food market, and he rose 
each time and snapped at them. Lizards and some 
species of rodents seem to be the most conspicuous 
fauna in the dunes. 

No one of my party knew the road to the Salina del 
Pinacate, another smaller salt deposit, where the next 
water would be found, but as our animals had been in 
pasture with good water to drink, v/e felt no anxiety 
about the journey. It turned out to be extremely fa- 
tiguing travel, however, the animals working all the time 
in the deep, soft sand, up and down the dunes. We fol- 
lowed the crests as much as possible, which were some- 
what harder and afforded the best means for progress. 
It was the heaviest work of the expedition. Usually the 
dunes formed large, irregular waves of no great height 
but once, in a limited area, we came across some big 
ones. We passed some beautiful formations of sand 
made by the action of the wind, which were like ter- 
races or fortifications extending one above the other. 

We camped without water. The next day, about 
half-way to the salina, as we followed the higher part 
of the large sand dunes near the slough which under 
the name of Estero del Tule runs northward, Clodo- 
miro and I came across an old Indian camping place. 
It was about three hundred yards from the slough, be- 



266 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

hind some high sand-hills on which a few mezquites were 
growing. As I stopped to take my bearings we no- 
ticed some pieces of wood that had been cut by an axe 
long ago, an unmistakable sign of human activity. Per- 
haps this had been done by the lonely Indian of Pina- 
cate mentioned before. Fifty or a hundred yards from 
there, on a bit of level ground, between the sand-hills, 
which was covered with large chamiso bushes and sa- 
caton grass, about fifty quails suddenly started forth 
and enlivened the lonesome landscape with their defiant 
notes. Shortly afterward we came upon a deep and 
narrow excavation that led down to water, the existence 
of which is known only to the Indians and one Mexican 
who gave it the name of Pozo del Cahallo, from the skel- 
eton of a horse he found there. Considerable work with 
a spade would have been necessary to make the water 
accessible for our animals, and there was no reason to 
call back our pack train which was in advance of us, so 
we continued our journey, striking a well-marked Ind- 
ian trail which leads northward. Small level places were 
covered with salltre, and the whiteness of the slough, 
which we followed for six miles, was almost blinding to 
our eyes. 

The slough finally became quite narrow, only twenty 
yards across, and making many curves and windings. 
After having passed two of these we found our pack train 
waiting for us to decide In which direction to proceed. 
The Pinacate salt deposit, which we were endeavoring to 
reach, could not now be far off, but neither Clodomlro 
nor one of the Mexicans who had visited it recognized the 



A CRITICAL POSITION 267 

locality, having approached it from the direction oppo- 
site to that with which they were acquainted. Clodomiro, 
smarting perhaps under the feehng of having to be guide 
without — through no fault of his — knowing that part 
of the country, undertook to direct us and, leaving the 
slough which now ran easterly, led us up on sand dunes 
that seemed particularly merciless to our animals after 
their very hard day's travel. One of the horses had to be 
left behind after a short time. It was five o'clock in the 
afternoon, the sun would soon set, and further marching 
in the dunes seemed aimless. Why not follow the slough 
that appeared to run in the same direction ? There was 
no time to waste, so following my impulse I led the ex- 
pedition down to the slough again. A march of an hour 
more brought us to the salina which we did not recognize 
at first. It appeared that the very slough we came by was 
part of it, but, being covered with white salitre, it did not 
reveal the whereabouts of the salt deposit until, just as 
darkness set in, we arrived at some shallow water be- 
tween thin layers of salt, roseate in color. 

Our thirsty animals hurried into it, to be sadly disap- 
pointed, for it was all salt. A few minutes' further travel 
along the edges brought to our attention small heaps of 
earth that had been thrown up on the beach. This was 
the work of men who had been there to get salt, and we 
hailed it with delight, for there they had dug for water. 
To be sure the water was not very fresh, and two of my 
men as well as two of the mules declined it. However, 
I knew better water could be found by digging deeper, 
which at that time we were too tired to do, and I congrat- 



268 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

ulated myself on having saved the expedition from pos- 
sible disaster. Next morning, by digging six feet deep, 
fairly good water was procured on the beach of the salt 
deposit. The two mules which were so particular had 
been without water for over seventy-two hours. 

We spent one day here recuperating and trying to 
collect the three animals, two of them donkeys, which we 
had been obliged to leave behind, but in this we were only 
partially successful. Our horses were in a bad way; these 
animals, however patient, are not serviceable for such a 
trip, as they are too fastidious about their food and water. 
A horse prefers not to eat rather than to try food he does 
not know. In fact, only two of them reached Sonoita 
again, and this was accomplished only through the heroic 
efforts of their owners, one of them walking almost all 
the time from Colonia Lerdo and the other keeping up 
his horse's strength with a sack of oats which he had 
succeeded in securing there. They were large, splendid 
looking animals at the start, but, as my guide said and as 
is generally true, "the horse that enters the medanos never 
comes back." Even my riding mule began to show signs 
of fatigue. 

The salt deposit is at a bend of the slough, and is only 
about a quarter of a mile long, some two hundred yards 
broad, and is apparently shallow. The salt is found in 
layers; along the water edge it is rose-colored and in the 
central part quite hard and fairly free from impurities. 
The sea, which is three miles off, is said by the Indians to 
reach here twice a year. This salina is interesting only 
because it has from time immemorial yielded the main 



GOING AFTER SALT 269 

supply of salt for the Papago Indians, who still come here 
even from as far away as the Gila River. A few Mexicans 
also, of outlying places such as Quitovac and Sonoita, 
obtain this commodity from here. The main route fol- 
lowed by the Indians passes over Quitovaquita, Tinaja 
del Cuervo, and La Soda, and there is also a trail from 
the Tinaja del Cuervo direct to Quitovac. 

Guadalupe pointed out to me the place where the 
Indian expeditions camp among the greasewood bushes 
close to the shore. He also showed me where the Indians, 
before attempting to gather the salt, had their ceremonial 
race on the deposit, running four times either forward and 
backward or one side up and the other down. He him- 
self has been too much with Mexicans to consider any 
ceremony necessary for fetching salt, but at Chujubabi, 
where he often lives, he has seen Papagoes pass on their 
way to another deposit on the coast, called San Jorge, 
fifty miles from there. 

Leaving their horses at the foot of the range of Chu- 
jubabi, the Indians would run on foot up the hills, nude 
but for a cloth around the loins and a ribbon tied around 
the head. Reaching the top, they would stop in a line all 
looking toward the distant salt, and every one would make 
a waving motion with the right hand, from out in toward 
the chest, one time only, and then they would descend 
again. The old men are left in charge watching the ani- 
mals so that they do not drink water until the return of 
their owners. There is no water from there to San Jorge, 
the distance being covered by the Indians in a day and 
a half. This salina, which is said to be only a couple of 



270 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

hundred meters in diameter and at long intervals covered 
by the sea, is still popular also with many Papagoes north 
of the boundary line. Their expeditions pass La Nariz, 
Espuma, and Chujubabi, and the time to go there is in 
April and October. Sometimes there is no salt found, 
when those Indians who are in the habit of visiting there 
come to the Pinacate salina. 

The expeditions to the salt deposit, where we had our 
present camp, used to consist of thirty or forty men — "as 
many as when going to fight the Apaches," to use the ex- 
pression of the most prominent leader of these expeditions 
to-day, whom I met at Santa Rosa in Arizona. In this 
case, however, they are all unarmed. On the road to 
and from the salina the Indians eat and drink very little, 
their only food being pinole, a handful to each, three times 
a day, eaten in the morning before the start, at noon, and 
in the afternoon. It is mixed with water, and whatever 
little may stick to the cup after its contents have been 
eaten is buried in a hole made in the ground. Nobody 
drinks water without permission; they wait until the 
leader tells them to do so, and drink only when told to 
stop on the march. The party travels very silently, 
only elderly men who have undertaken the journey 
before talk, and nobody turns around either on the 
journey out or on the return. No member of the 
expedition can scratch himself unless he uses for the 
purpose a special implement made from a twig of the 
greasewood. 

•In the evenings going and coming they receive instruc- 
tions from the leader concerning the care that must be 



ANCIENT CUSTOMS 271 

taken both in the gathering and loading of the sak as well 
as in ceremonies and sacrifices. They smoke tobacco and 
they all pray to the sun and the sea for health, long life, 
and for rain. 

Only toward midnight do they go to sleep. The leader 
carries with him six small sticks, pointed at one end, but 
without the usual plumes, to deposit in different localities, 
one in each of the two places where water is found on the 
long trip, one at an ancient waterhole, one in the salt, 
one "where the sea used to be," and another is thrown 
into the sea, which sometimes does not accept it if there 
is menstruation in the leader's house. He has also three 
cobs of corn of abnormal growth, flat and deformed and 
called by the Indians "flat-head corn." The first even- 
ing on the road he takes grains from these, four each 
time, chews them, and then spits into the mouth of every 
horse to make it strong. Some meal ground from the 
same kind of corn-cobs is carried along to be sacrificed to 
the sea. 

They arrive early in the day. After having hobbled 
their horses each man takes off his clothing and places a 
breech cloth around his loins, and they all walk in a line 
down to the salt, the leader following, carrying a prayer- 
stick. Those who have not been there before run four 
times in the slough over the salt deposit, the others twice. 
Quite a distance is covered and some do not return until 
nightfall. When my informant, the old leader, was young, 
he used to run on such occasions what would be equivalent 
to sixteen miles. When the race is over every one rubs his 
chest, arms, legs, face, and hair with salt and then has his 



272 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

handful of pinole, whereupon the salt is spread out to 
dry. The party next moves down to the sea; going into 
it up to their knees, each man carries corn-meal in his 
left hand and, watching for the waves, throws one pinch 
of it, caught with all fingers, on each of four successive 
waves. He bends forward when a high one comes lest it 
might throw him on his back, which is a bad thing as it 
would make him ill. They do not indulge in any sea 
bathing, for the ocean is too clean to allow them to soil 
it, they reverently say. 

Toward sunset the salt is gathered in sacks, about 
one hundred pounds in each, two of these making a 
load. Great care is taken that no salt be spilled on the 
road as this would bring about some misfortune. Every 
one takes back with him a piece of silicious sponge which 
is found on the beach and which is kept carefully from 
year to year. This is considered a good remedy for ex- 
ternal use. But the leader may take a bite of it, chew 
it, fill his mouth with water, and spray this through his 
lips on the men. Members of a salt expedition learn new 
songs on the trip and they say they dream them while 
asleep. Among the gifts of the sea may be a beautiful 
wife, luck in hunting, or swiftness in foot-races. After 
their return they must stay away from their houses 
from ten to sixteen days. A good deal of their time 
is spent in singing to the accompaniment of rasping 
sticks, and after having taken a bath every fourth day 
the man is able to join his wife again. According to ac- 
counts of fifty years ago* the Papagoes supplied Tucson 

* See California Notes, Fourth Series, in California Farmer, 1863. 




Beautiful effects of wind and sand, north-west of J'ozo del Caballo 




The Pinacate salt deposit 

Papago salt expeditions camp between the two clumps of greasewood to the left and in the middle 



INDIAN SALT 273 

and a mining company with thousands of pounds of salt 
annually. This was undoubtedly brought from this Pin- 
acate deposit. Much of the salt used to be exchanged for 
wheat with the Pimas. 



CHAPTER XVII 

A PEACEFUL DAY— TRAGEDY IN THE WILDERNESS— OUR ANIMALS 
BEGINNING TO GIVE IN— A PROMISING SODA DEPOSIT— LAST 
CAMP ON THE BEACH— AMONG THE SAND DUNES— SIERRA 
BLANCA— THE MOUTH OF THE SONOITA RIVER— EL CHARCO— 
PRONGHORN ANTELOPES— MEETING WITH INDIANS— RETURN 
TO SONOITA 

Saturday, February 12, was as peaceful and quiet 
as any sunny Sabbath day of the wilds. Though the 
water was yellowish and smelt of sulphur, it furnished 
me a refreshing "tub." From the top of the sand dunes 
above my camp there was a fine viev/ of the landscape, 
which resembled a mountainous country covered with 
snow. Down among the low sand-hills near the salina 
three coyotes came along, escaping my camera only on ac- 
count of the presence of my dog. Never have I seen any 
other region that harbored so many of them. They evi- 
dently foraged on the beach all night long, and in the day- 
time they would pass in pairs over the salt lake, remind- 
ing one of wolves on snow fields. Three of them came 
up to our kitchen. 

Alberto, in looking for a donkey left behind, struck 
an Indian trail which led straight across the slough that 
we had followed northward the preceding day, and re- 
ported that the ground was fairly hard, except on the 
edges, where his animals sank up to their bellies. Prob- 
ably, therefore, we should have arrived more easily by 

making our way directly across the slough. 

274 



AN INHOSPITABLE REGION 275 

Clodomiro and another Mexican, who had been to 
the coast trying to get fish, brought back a somewhat 
ghastly souvenir in the shape of a human scapula. On 
the beach, east of the mouth of the slough of the salina 
and above the reach of the tide, they had come across 
an old sailing boat, half buried in the sand. There were 
remains of red paint on it and the mast was still there 
intact. Very little sand was inside of it, and here they 
found the osseous remains of a man, the head missing, 
remnants of a gray felt hat, pieces of black cloth, a can 
containing baking powder, and two bottles. They were 
of the opinion that this man had been an American and 
that the disaster must have happened perhaps ten years 
ago. 

Our start the next morning was characteristic of the 
inhospitable region where I found myself. One of the 
remaining horses was so weak that he had to be helped 
onto his feet, another horse barely walked without sad- 
dle, and my riding mule had diarrhoea. Our progress 
over the sand dunes was slow and tedious, but after 
six hours' journey we reached our next destination. La 
Soda, where fairly good water was found in two shallow 
holes that had been dug near some bulrushes on the 
shore of a soda deposit. 

La Soda is a deposit of carbonate of soda, one and a 
half miles long and half a mile wide, running from east 
to west. The valuable part of it is three-quarters of a 
mile long and about three hundred yards wide. Low 
sand dunes separate it from the sea, which is two or 
three miles off. An American company some years ago 



276 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

started to exploit the deposit, but the attempt was aban- 
doned, perhaps on account of the difficulty of communi- 
cation, which has to be by sea without there being, as 
far as I could ascertain, any suitable harbor. Wood for 
fuel is not found here. For our camp fire we used green 
chamiso bushes and a bush called sosa, a species of 
suceda, the ashes of which are used by Mexicans in the 
manufacture of soap; the donkeys also eat it. 

Mexicans who occasionally pass here on their way to 
the Pinacate salt deposit usually stop a day to kill fish 
by dynamite in the sea which Is near by. The fish are 
salted and dried. Several flocks of cranes passed after 
sunset westward bound, probably for the Colorado 
River. Some quails and doves were observed and in 
the morning a mocking-bird sang beautifully, but noth- 
ing seemed to be able to dispel the gloomy impression of 
the landscape. 

We started eastward in a chilly northern wind of 
varying force, which made the atmosphere opaque with 
sand and salitre, darkening the horizon and hiding even 
Pinacate from view. As we travelled over an apparently 
indefinite number of sloughs all covered with a thin 
layer of salitre, clouds of this stuff would sometimes 
whirl along and envelop us as if in white smoke. It 
was a relief to arrive again at the beach which lay before 
us in a straight line eastward. After a few miles' travel 
we reached an old Indian camping place. La Choya, a 
translation of the Indian name of the same meaning and 
derived from clusters of the formidable spiny cacti which 
Is found near by among the low sandy ridges. They 



CHOYAS OF THE COAST 277 

seemed to be different from the two or three species com- 
prised under the name choya, smaller and browner in 
color, and may possibly be another species. 

A small low sand dune separated our camp by a 
hundred yards from the beach. There is little pasture 
here, and there was nothing from which to make a camp 
fire except driftwood. Several ocotillos made their fa- 
miliar appearance on top of the low sand ridges, and near 
our camp were a few quaviri bushes; some very small 
chamiso, evidently another species, and some dusky sosa 
bushes completed the list of conspicuous vegetation here. 

There was no doubt about the spot where water was 
to be found. A large hole had been excavated on the 
little plain on which we made camp and heaps of earth 
mixed with thousands of sea-shells had been thrown up, 
but it must have been some time ago, for there was no 
water in sight except at the bottom of a deep burrow 
which had been made at one side by the coyotes. We soon 
uncovered water, however, but it was strongly brackish. 

Four or five miles farther east on the beach two hills 
loomed up on the horizon and at that distance appeared 
as two islands, perhaps a mile long each, situated close 
to the beach. The nearer may be connected with the 
main-land and is probably a rocky promontory, at least 
at low water. Sand dunes could plainly be discerned 
there, and this was where the sand Papagoes used to 
kill sea lions (in Spanish lobos). The other may be ac- 
cessible from this one at low tide. 

From here I turned inland toward the so-called 
Sierra Blanca, which is south-east of Pinacate, making 



2/8 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

for a point midway between its southern extension and 
a row of three large sand dunes that rose at some dis- 
tance in front of us. Though the air was opaque from 
floating sand, it often cleared and revealed the pictu- 
resque sierra which appeared from the coast much higher 
than it is in reality. The distance to it is only fifteen 
miles in a straight line and the landscape presents a 
vista entirely of sand. For the first two miles the dunes 
look like large, low waves running in the general direc- 
tion from north to south. They are each half a mile to 
a mile long and only from twenty to fifty feet high, and 
they are smooth looking as less action of the wind is 
noticeable here. The vegetation is mainly greasewood 
and canutillo. 

For the next four miles the sand ridges were some- 
what higher and showed much wind action, as they 
consist of a great number of small hills, ranging from 
five to forty feet high, the largest ridges being seventy to 
eighty feet high. The same vegetation is found on these 
hills and in addition mezquite trees grow in clumps at 
the tops, and on account of the absence of leaves looked 
as if they were dead. It was a pleasant surprise to find 
in this belt, in the middle of February, a lovely flora 
consisting mainly of Oenothera trichocalyx with its large 
white flowers and also a yellow species. For a couple 
of miles I saw thousands of them in bunches clothing the 
small slopes and valleys between the lower sand ridges as 
if planted in a park. The light green, healthy, and juicy 
looking plants made me feel as though I had been sud- 
denly transported to other regions less arid than these. 



AMONG THE SAND-HILLS 279 

The next three miles contained some sand ridges of 
smooth appearance, but there were no flowers, though 
the usual vegetation prevailed. 

The last five miles consisted of more or less barren 
sand-hills, the largest of which had been noticed from the 
coast running westward like huge waves, each approxi- 
mately one hundred and seventy-five feet in height and 
less than a mile in length. These form the beginning of 
the big bare sand dunes which run in a belt toward La- 
guna Prieta about three miles wide. We passed to the 
right of the first one and camped behind it. A stifle wind 
from the north had been blowing through the day and it 
felt chilly, although a temperature of ^^° F. at sunset was 
not particularly low; still, as we camped at six o'clock 
we found it agreeable to draw near the fire. 

During the night a fresh gale from the north-west 
sprang up and filled all my things with sand. For three 
days it had not been possible to change the films of my 
cameras on account of the sand that was flying about. 
It worked its way disagreeably into rifles and instruments, 
but did not do any damage, as it was clean and easily 
shaken out. Clodomiro and I had followed an hour or 
less after the rest of the party and we had occasion to ob- 
serve how astonishingly quickly a wind of even moderate 
force obliterates tracks. 

Emerging from the dunes, one is suddenly confronted 
at their edge with a full view of Sierra Blanca which, as its 
name implies, is of a very light granite color; the Indians 
too, in their language, call it the *' white range." A huge 
lava flow from Pinacate separates it from the dunes and 



28o NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

follows It almost to Its southern point. Isolated specimens 
of the white brittle bush grew In great numbers over the 
dark sheet of lava In front of us, giving at first sight the 
Impression of being spots of ashes on a large field of burnt 
grass. We had last seen this bush at El Capltan. All 
along the base of the sierra there appears a narrow strip 
of verdure, consisting of palo verde, palo fierro, and the 
usual vegetation of such localities. A lonely sahuaro, 
the first seen since leaving the Gila Range, stood on a 
hill-top. Though no water is found on the western side 
of Sierra Blanca, the vegetation of the standy strip along 
the base of the range sheltered by the lava flow Is luxuriant. 
Close to my tent toloache {datura) was in flower, and a 
creeper with lots of small leaves that smelled like mint 
when crushed attracted unusual attention from our ani- 
mals. 

There was an abundance of grass here, but our ani- 
mals had to be taken to water twelve miles away at Ti- 
naja del Cuervo. Accompanied by Clodomiro, I examined 
this small and steep mountain range, which has not before 
been explored, ascending it In three places; its height is 
only about one thousand five hundred feet above the 
llano, and its crest is as narrow as any of those in that 
western region; a stone can be thrown from one side to 
the other of the ridge. The mountain-sheep have a well- 
beaten path along the entire crest, although it would be 
difficult for a man to pass over the middle section. We 
saw a gray fox in its lair near the top. 

Loose rocks and stones, which in a time long past had 
tumbled down from above, fill the gorges or arroyos that 



A CONSPICUOUS WATER COURSE 281 

descend from the sierra. No soil is in sight here and it 
is almost incredible that any plant life could strike root, 
but, in spite of this, whatever grows is in a thriving 
condition. The steep gorges were filled with a pleasant 
aroma from the brittle bush and sangrengado, and the 
ocotillo was in evidence in the lower parts, all serving 
as food for the always fat-looking mountain-sheep. Also 
a few greasewoods, choyas, and century plants are seen 
here and there among the mountains, which, however, 
impress one as being barren of vegetation, except in the 
arroyos, and such is the case with all sierras of the desert 
region. 

Standing on top of the southern part of the sierra, one 
sees toward the north and the east a large llano with 
greasewood growth that extends as far as the low sierras 
of Agua Salada. Sierra de San Francisco, nearly twenty- 
five miles across, is directly opposite us, and to the east 
Sierra Pinta, perhaps eighteen miles away, looms up. 
There are no sand dunes to interrupt the flatness of this 
llano; the ground is hard and easy to travel over and the 
soil is good for agricultural purposes. 

The most interesting sight from this lofty point of 
vantage was the course of the Sonoita River, which even 
to the naked eye is conspicuous on account of the green 
growth of mezquites that follow its banks. It is unneces- 
sary to recall the fact that most of what is called the 
Sonoita River has no water except immediately after 
heavy showers. It has been supposed that the Sonoita 
River never reaches the sea, but I may state here that 
such is not the case, as it does occasionally carry its 



282 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

capricious waters to the Gulf. Through my field-glass I 
could make out distinctly its course as it passes a couple 
of miles this side of some isolated small hills, Los Cerri- 
tos del Rio, which were conspicuous on the large llano 
to the east south-east of us, about twelve miles away. 
Galleta grass grew between the hills and the river, which 
runs south from there for about four miles and then makes 
a curve south-east continuing for about two miles more. 
Although I could not actually follow it to its mouth, still 
for many miles south-eastward and south its course was 
easily traceable, and without doubt it reaches the sea, 
which was visible in the horizon. Moreover, my guide, 
Clodomiro Lopez, who during the expedition had proved 
himself to be reliable, had been on the river in February 
of the preceding year at only one league's distance from 
the Gulf. An unusual amount of rain had fallen and at 
that place the river-bed ran full. The bed of the river 
was deeper than at Los Pozitos but not so wide and mez- 
quites were growing on the banks. The mouth of the 
river should be about four leagues west of the terminal of 
the little railroad of the Sierra Pinta mine. 

While the gravelly land stretching along the base of the 
Sierra Blanca presents the usual smooth appearance and 
vegetation, there may be observed farther away on the 
plains sandy patches covered with galleta and sacaton 
grass. Toward the south and the west at some distance 
are seen green and yellowish patches, due to the colors of 
flowers, for the soil is rich there. Nearer, scarcely two 
miles off, is a small plain which presents the same color- 
ing in its southern part, while it is red in its northern part. 



FLORA NEAR SIERRA BLANCA 283 

due to the prevalence of the golondrina. It is a small 
sandy basin running east and west into which many 
streams of rain-water disappear, and hence it is called by 
my guide El Charco. The Pinacate lava flow reaches 
that far. 

On a visit to that locality I found that the most con- 
spicuous plants were the prickly poppy, in Spanish cardo 
(argemone intermedia), sphceralcea incanay a nightshade 
{physalis lohata), nama stenophyllum, and plantago jas- 
tigiata. The latter, which the Mexicans call la pastora, is 
considered to be the best kind of pasture. Its seeds are 
eaten by the Papago Indians, either uncooked or toasted 
and ground to a pinole. These several species of plants 
were all in flower. A pair of blue birds were near and in 
one place one of them kept flapping its wings over the 
white flowers of a poppy plant. A falcon also made its 
appearance here and hawks, as usual, were much in evi- 
dence. 

At the base of the sierra we startled a flock of ten 
mountain-sheep resting at noon in a small arroyo. Most 
of them ran swiftly up the mountain sides, but an old ram 
took the situation more calmly and walked leisurely be- 
hind the rest. As we rode on, keeping our eyes on the 
craggy ridges that extended from the summit, the ram 
was seen again on top of one of them. His head appeared 
against the sky over three hundred yards off; he stood 
there for five minutes looking at us, immovably as in a 
picture, the rocks on either side of him forming the frame. 
I was going to put up my tripod and take a time exposure 
when he slowly walked off, following the crest upward. 



284 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

Just as I was about to mount my mule he suddenly came 
dashing down the steep slope toward us, as If to ascertain 
what we were doing there; at one-third of the distance 
down he turned, however, and trotted swiftly and easily 
along the steep and broken slope of the mountains, ex- 
posing his side to the camera. We saw him again in 
another direction, nearer to us, but high up against the 
sky, where he stood for a few seconds and then turned his 
white tail toward us and disappeared. 

Five of those beautiful swift animals, called prong- 
horn antelopes {atitilocapra americana mexicana), were 
also seen grazing at about three hundred yards out on 
the llano. When these animals move among the grease- 
woods alone, they are easily discovered on account of their 
color, which, while mainly light reddish brown, pres- 
ents a good deal of white, the legs and under body being 
thus marked, but the rest of the vegetation here offers 
them much protection. The extravagant shape of the 
choya, combined with its whitish color, often suggests an 
antelope at a distance, and there are many old crags and 
withered branches that look like prongs or horns. The 
large open llano, the favorite haunt of these animals, is 
in places covered with the golondrina and another taller 
plant, both of a reddish hue, which resembles that of 
the antelope. As I was dressed in white, I succeeded in 
approaching them, but they are much more shy than 
mountain-sheep, and they suddenly, although within easy 
reach of my rifle, became alarmed at my photographic 
efforts. They trotted away quickly in single file, describ- 
ing long serpentine curves among the greasewood. 



MEETING TRAVELLERS 285 

Clodomlro and I made a circuitous route around 
Sierra Blanca, overtaking the pack train late in the 
evening at our former camp Galletal. My riding mule 
had had no water for seventy-eight hours. The next 
day I began to retreat to Sonoita in order to replenish 
our store of provisions. In the afternoon, as we travelled 
along, we noticed a cloud of dust rising from the llano 
ahead of us, a sign of travellers coming our way. They 
proved to be three Indians from Barajita, a rancheria 
in Arizona, on their way to the Pinacate salina. Their 
pack animals carried little else but empty packing nets, 
as the provisions brought along on salt expeditions are 
meagre and of only one kind. They asked about water 
and grass. One of them said he knew that we had 
started for these parts two months ago. 

The leader wore a fantastic white hat with a bluish 
plume waving from the centre. The second was an el- 
derly, cunning-looking man, who dismounted and offered 
his hand; the third was fat and more civilized looking, 
known by the name of Jose Juan and as a prominent 
medicine-man. He is usually capitan, but this time he 
was probably not, as he came last. The capitan leads 
going out and is the last in the procession coming back. 
They seemed intelligent and it was strange to find some 
natives of the desert after having beheld for so long only 
their haunts of former days. They maintained a kind 
but reserved mien and departed after a minute or two 
of conversation. I gave one of them the cigarettes I 
had with me, and he asked for matches which were 
promptly supplied. Their animals were in good condi- 



286 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

tion and though the sun was low, they would reach the 
Cuervo tank, seven miles off, in a very short time, 
Clodomiro said. Half an hour later we saw from the 
dust in the distance that they were nearing their desti- 
nation. 

We camped that night on the bank of the Sonoita 
river-bed, which is much larger here than in Sonoita, 
thirteen miles south of Agua Dulce; it is about one 
hundred and twenty feet wide and runs in two sections, 
separated by a low narrow ridge, each part about fifty 
feet wide. It is rather surprising that a river which 
carries water for only a few hours at a time can leave 
so large a course. At certain bends of the river where 
the sand contains clay the water may last two days. 
There were mezquites of considerable size here, and it 
was pleasant to see them again, as it meant wood for 
our fire. A couple of miles before arriving at Los Pozi- 
tos we passed a low ridge where pieces of obsidian lay 
scattered about. If my guide is correct, this is the only 
place where obsidian occurs in the country south-west 
of Sonoita. Two miles from Los Pozitos a number of 
sea-shells of various kinds were observed about six feet 
above the river-bed. 

The little stream of crystal clear spring water at 
Quitovaquita is smaller than a brook, but it seemed 
much alive as it hurried on in its effort to keep the dam 
full. As I had been long unaccustomed to seeing run- 
ning water, and for twenty days had drunk it more or 
less brackish, the tiny brook seemed almost unreal and 
was enchanting in its effect. It was also a delight to 




LEA\aNG La Soda 




Sierra Blanca, southern p.art, seen from the south 




Waiting for his chance. At Los Pozitos 



BEANS THAT ARE WORTH WHILE 287 

indulge in my first real wash for nine days, for I could 
hardly count to my credit the fact that my finger-tips 
were cleaned morning and evening when washing my 
cup and spoon with a little of our precious fluid. 

As for provisions, meat we had not eaten since our 
departure from the Colorado River, except for the first 
few days, and it is difficult to keep a Mexican contented 
without it, though the delicious mullets caught had 
helped us out immensely; flour we had had to econo- 
mize much, and for the previous four or five days there 
had been an actual shortage; we had enough rice, coffee, 
sugar, but our main standby was tepari, the small white 
beans of the Sonora Indian and Mexican. The extent 
of their cultivation in Mexico I do not know, for I have 
not seen them outside of Sonora. I cannot myself too 
strongly recommend them for regions suitable to them. 
While the ordinary white beans have little flavor of their 
own, these tepari have quite a strong and very pleas- 
ant one, and even the water in which they are cooked 
makes an agreeable sauce. They contain much fat in 
themselves and they cook in a short time, which is an- 
other great advantage. 

The next day I arrived at Sonoita with a feeling of 
satisfaction in having successfully accomplished the first 
half of my exploration of the desert south-west of that 
place. It was toward the end of February and spring- 
time greeted us in the oasis. Already at a distance the 
attractive light green color of the cotton-wood trees (Span- 
ish, alamo) and willows were evident, the new leaves 
being half-grown; peach, apple, and almond trees were 



288 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

in bloom, and the verdure of the wheat-fields among the 
Indian houses was pleasing to the eye. 

Sr. Isauro Quiroz received us with whole-souled heart- 
iness and invited the whole expedition to a meal in his 
house, Guadalupe sitting down at the table afterward, 
for there was not room enough for all at the same time 
in the hospitable little dining-room. The fresh eggs 
tasted delicious, and I felt as if I had arrived in civiliza- 
tion again, for everything is relative in this world. 



CHAPTER XVIII 

NEW EXPEDITION WESTWARD— GROWLER WELL— A HARDY OLD 
PAPAGO— DISAGREEABLE EXPERIENCE WITH A MEXICAN OF 
MY PARTY— A VALUABLE NEW MEMBER— PAPAGO LOYALTY— 
PRONGHORN ANTELOPE AGAIN— MOUNTAIN-SHEEP INSIDE 
OF A CRATER— I LEAVE MY MAIN CAMP— MY TWO COMPAN- 
IONS—RISKS TAKEN BY THE PROSPECTOR— DECEPTIVE AT- 
MOSPHERE—OUR GUIDING STAR— READING TRACKS— SOLITUDE 
—BEAUTY OF THE DESERT 

On our first day in Sonoita a fresh south-w^esterly 
breeze which later changed to northerly made it impos- 
sible to Start the patient burros grinding for us in the 
flour mills, but the following days were spent busily 
preparing for the new expedition, and on Thursday, 
March 3, I was able to start again westward. My prin- 
cipal object was to reach Sierra del Rosario, around 
which I had travelled at a distance without having found 
a visit practicable. Sr. Isauro Quiroz insisted that no 
white man had ever been there, but however that may be, 
it is certain that nobody from Sonoita or Colonia Lerdo 
had ever gone there. By taking different routes from 
those I had followed before, I expected to be able to 
complete my knowledge of the desert. 

My first objective point was Quitovaquita, where this 
time I hoped to have better success in inducing old 
Pancho, the medicine-man, to go with me. His daugh- 
ter, whose illness on the occasion of my first visit had 
then prevented him from accepting my invitation, had 

died since. We found the place deserted, but the cattle 

289 



290 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

of the Indians were still being watered at the dam, and 
through the herders we were informed of the where- 
abouts of the owners, who had moved to a camp called 
El Pozo, which was at no great distance. We accord- 
ingly followed them and made our camp at the same 
place. As nothing can be accomplished in a hurry with 
Indians, I improved the occasion by taking a trip far- 
ther up in Arizona to Bates's Well, or El Veit, as the 
Mexicans name that locality, and which is now curiously 
called the Growler Well. There is a copper mine here, 
but work on it has been suspended, and the place is in- 
habited by very few people. An American who was in 
charge of the mine and the store received me hospitably. 
He invited me to a square meal or two, presented me 
with some copies of magazines and recent newspapers, 
and, above all, helped me out with a new supply of rope 
for my outfit, of which I was sadly in need. 

The news of the day was that a week ago an Ameri- 
can had been found dead on the playa north of Pinacate. 
Caravajales, the Indian hermit of Los Papagos tank, had 
come across the body which had been badly used by the 
coyotes, and a black jacket had been found hanging in a 
tree near by. Another report was brought to me that 
the ''professor," meaning myself, had also died from 
thirst, and that the coyotes had dragged away his head. 
This last confused rumor probably related to the human 
remains found in a boat by members of my party. 

At this place there lives a very old Papago, Jose 
Juan, father of a restless, unapproachable Indian called 
Agustin. The man is reputed to be one hundred and 



THE WISDOM OF AGE 291 

fifteen years old, and he certainly looked as if he might 
have reached at least a hundred. As we entered his 
house he rose to a sitting position, but was short of breath 
and could not talk much to us, he said, owing to a re- 
cent accident while drunk. Considering that the old 
man had been intoxicated on the white man's brandy for 
three days, the state of his health was certainly wonder- 
ful. He had all his mental faculties intact, and was one 
of those who after a sufficiently long acquaintance might 
give a good deal of truthful information. According to 
him, the sand Papagoes often camped in the winter-time 
at Sierra Blanca. The Apaches in their raids used to go 
as far as that mountain range. There was rain for- 
merly every year, but it was no longer so, he said. He 
spoke of some big bones he had seen among the great 
sand dunes, and in regard to the ruins of a mission in the 
western desert, rumors of which are current among the 
Mexicans, he said he knew nothing about them, though 
he had spent most of his hfe among the dunes. He also 
professed ignorance concerning the existence of a smaller 
salt water lagoon east of Laguna Prieta; however, it is 
doubtful whether he wanted to tell the truth about this. 
In regard to his son Agustin's silver mine, of which 
both Indians and Mexicans have much to relate, includ- 
ing the oft-told tale of pure silver being melted by mistake 
for the making of bullets, he was less reserved, and said 
that it was on top of the Cabeza Prieta range, not far 
from the tinaja in the same direction as we travelled, 
which would be west of it. He demanded kok peso, two 
dollars, for permission to photograph him. 



292 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

On my return to El Pozo I had a disagreeable experi- 
ence with a Mexican in my party owing to the story of the 
dead American on the playa. The report might or might 
not be true, such tragedies are by no means unknown in 
the desert, but this one had an entirely unexpected effect 
on the man, who was otherwise intelligent and useful 
though shifty. He was not afraid of the corpse to be 
sure, but connected the tragic occurrence with two Mexi- 
cans who just before our start had passed through Sonoita, 
on their way westward to Tinajas Altas. As travellers in 
that part of the country are very rare, the people of Sono- 
ita always wonder what their business may be, and some- 
times they are suspicious of them. The two men were 
from Douglas, Arizona, and had not found it expedient 
to inform anybody concerning the exact aim of their 
journey. In fact, although they looked all right, they 
had aroused some suspicion in my Mexican by giving 
various accounts about their destination. He immedi- 
ately jumped to the conclusion that these two men had 
something to do with the dead, and in the presence of all 
said to me: "You carry much money and had better go 
by another route; I am not going to stand by you; I 
will run away on my mare." 

"Well, I am going to persevere, and I know the Papa- 
goes will," I calmly answered. "I am glad you gave me 
notice beforehand, but you will have no occasion to do 
as you intend," I added. 

He then addressed the Papagoes to get them to agree 
with him, but they gave no answer, and only smiled. 

"You know I carry little money, and I do not care 



SEDITIOUS TALK 293 

whether I lose the little I have; my note-books interest 
me much more," I thought it expedient to interject. 

"The books do not interest us, do they?" he again 
addressed the Papagoes, who remained silent. It was 
very satisfactory to see them standing with me as firm as 
a wall. As I walked away I heard him saying to Guada- 
lupe, "Really there is something in this; we ought not to 
expose ourselves to danger in this way," and again there 
was no answer. How disagreeable it is to discover that 
a man is morally and physically a coward. The next 
morning, before our start, he sat mending the cover of one 
of my three large canteens. "I am doing good work," 
he said; "a canteen will prove very important yonder. 
In the desert a man would see the mouth of my rifle barrel 
rather than that of my canteen," meaning thereby that 
he would rather give a bullet from his rifle than water from 
his canteen. In other ways he had some good qualities; 
he was honest to the core, and was a very serviceable 
cook. Discharging him was out of the question; his 
services were indispensable to the success of the expedi- 
tion, for in that country men are scarce or not to be had, 
and any delay would have been fatal on account of the 
approaching hot season. 

Pancho, the old medicine-man, was induced to go with 
us, but in the morning as we were starting he came to in- 
form me that his donkey could not be found. Surely, if 
it did not come, he would not be able to accompany us, 
and I was afraid that this might be a scheme of his wife to 
prevent him from going with us. But he was too impor- 
tant a man for me to allow him to fail us, so I sent word to 



294 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

the pack train, which had started already, to stop, and I 
remained myself. An hour later, to my delight, he came 
trotting briskly along on his small donkey. 

Our first camp was made at La Papaga gold mine, 
near the border, which is not being worked, but where a 
good artesian well has been made. It is over a hundred 
feet to the water, which is said to be more than that 
number of feet deep, and It took two hours to water our 
animals. Some American prospectors were camped here. 
One party of them had just come in from the west and 
reported that there was no water In the Tule well, which 
lay on our proposed route. By digging in the sand they 
had managed to get some for their animals, though it was 
very bad and ill-smelling. They spoke of having met 
some suspicious looking Mexicans at Tinajas Altas who 
seemed destitute of everything except arms and full cart- 
ridge belts, and were very non-committal in regard to their 
errand. The Americans had even been led to believe 
that they were waiting to meet me, and had given them 
some provisions. Another party of two Americans, who 
were prospecting in the neighborhood of La Papaga, had 
just brought in provisions from Ajo, as well as some more 
details of the story of the dead man on the playa. All 
this was too much for my impulsive Mexican who de- 
clared he would not go. ''If you go, you will have no 
arrieros (muleteers or packers) with you!" he exclaimed. 

I came to the conclusion that it was best to ensure my- 
self against further thoughtless and cowardly remarks by 
leaving their author behind — not here, however, but in 
the PInacate region. I resolved to go to Tinaja de los 



CHASING MOUNTAIN-SHEEP 295 

Papagos and establish a main camp there from which 
with two Indians I would make the intended expedition 
alone. I was pleasantly surprised when early next morn- 
ing Guadalupe, as spokesman for the Indians, came to me 
in my tent and said: "Listen, Don Carlos, that is not 
right. We will go with you. It is for this that we are 
here." I suggested that it was not worth while to pay 
attention to the Mexican. "We did," he said, "and it 
did not appear to us right to talk like that." I thanked 
him for this and he walked off looking for his burros. 

Old Doctor Pancho, of small stature and riding a 
small burro, led the way. As we were riding between 
some low hills he suddenly showed animation, pointing 
out fresh tracks of mountain-sheep. While we halted, 
Pedro, a Papago who is an excellent shot, climbed up one 
of the hills, while our Mexican, who was also a successful 
hunter, set out to investigate the tracks, galloping around 
the hills. Soon two shots were heard from Pedro, who 
was running fast along the ridge; two sheep ran in front 
of him, both evidently wounded, for he threw stones after 
them in his anger. One fell and the other continued its 
flight, pursued by more shots. It made its way toward 
us and stopped, paralyzed in its hind legs, as it had been 
shot in the spine. A third one had been wounded and, as 
I did not like to go without putting it out of its suffering, 
I decided to remain here over night. 

The locality was quite attractive with much pasture 
and an abundance of palo fierro. There was general 
contentment in camp since the always vexing problem of 
came had been solved so quickly and easily. The even- 



296 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

ing was agreeably warm, 70° F. at seven o'clock, and a 
soft breeze was blowing from the north-east and some- 
times from the south, obliging me to be continually chang- 
ing my seat at the fire in order to avoid the smoke while 
I was toasting my tortillas. The following day, in the 
morning, Pedro returned with the third sheep. They 
were all young females and the skin of the youngest was 
preserved. 

After having travelled across a large plain, part of 
which is called La Playa and presents the unusual specta- 
cle of greasewoods that are sickly looking, small, and grow- 
ing close together, we passed Monument 180 standing 
like an outpost on the great lava flow of Pinacate. We 
then made for Tinaja de los Papagos, which, on account 
of malpais, cannot be reached by a direct Hne. As we 
were passing the rim of a great crater, only five or six 
miles from our destination, we discovered two antelopes 
among the desert vegetation, standing motionless at about 
one hundred and fifty yards distant and looking at us. 
We halted and Pedro was dispatched to try to secure them. 
Unfortunately, one antelope was only wounded, one of its 
forelegs being broken near the shoulder, and this did 
not prevent it from running extremely fast on its three 
remaining legs. In spite of a most zealous chase for 
hours the next morning, it showed as much agility as if 
nothing had happened to it, and finally the pursuit had 
to be given up. 

Our animals after forty-eight hours without water 
were glad to drink; the work had not been hard and the 
heat of the last days was never greater than 86° F. in the 



PHOTOGRAPHING MOUNTAIN-SHEEP 297 

shade. At the tank in the evening pigeons by the hun- 
dreds were still in evidence, and two or three shots from 
my gun furnished me with dehcious food for several days. 

I was desirous of getting some photographs of the 
mountain-sheep by visiting the neighboring crater again, 
as perchance some might have found their way into it 
this time. As we went toward our two previously assigned 
places nearly half-way down, the noise from the cinders in 
which we were sliding started out a mountain-sheep at the 
bottom of the ample crater. He came running out of 
the large talus to the llano below and seemed very shy. 

We took up our different positions and Pedro, much 
against his inclination, was ordered to descend the three 
or four hundred feet that remained in order to startle 
the animal so that he would come up and pass before the 
camera. The effect of Pedro's arrival at the bottom 
was to make the sheep ascend the talus, just opposite to 
where I was seated. It then ran swiftly and sideways 
across the accumulation of rocks as easily as a horse 
gallops over a plain. According to Mexican accounts 
the mountain-sheep is at a disadvantage on level coun- 
try, and a galloping horse easily overtakes it, but among 
the loose rocks he showed his agility to the best advan- 
tage. Approaching in this manner the place where the 
first exit was possible, the toro (ram) suddenly stopped 
some one hundred and fifty yards from the man who was 
watching there. He stood quietly for fully ten minutes 
when I asked Guadalupe, who was placed not far from 
me, to fire a shot from his rifle to start him again. The 
sound, with its reverberating echoes, had the desired 



298 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

effect, and the animal resumed its circling of the crater, 
this time lowering its course somewhat and stopping now 
and then as if uncertain which way to go and how to 
defeat the enemies' designs. 

A knoll soon hid the sheep from view and made it 
impossible for me to follow him, though I expected soon 
to see him emerge and pass my stand. Suddenly the 
man at the other station shouted: "Jrribar' (Higher 
up!). The animal had taken an unexpected route, and 
I made as fast as I could for the top of the knoll, just 
in time to catch him at forty yards' distance as he stood 
wavering for a few seconds before continuing his flight 
to the upper part of the crater. Swiftly he scaled the 
slippery cinders in a straight line for the rim, and then 
my men, who in the meantime had contained themselves 
with difficulty, were allowed to fire, but the distances were 
considerable and the animal easily made his escape. 

On Tuesday, March 15, I left my camp to make the 
intended exploration of the sand dune country west of 
there. I was accompanied only by two Indians, Pedro 
and the old medicine-man, Pancho, both belonging to 
the sand people, the latter being one of the few left who 
had actually lived there. He spoke no Spanish nor Eng- 
lish and was not particularly distinguished by any pro- 
found knowledge of the art of travel, but he was business- 
hke in his silent ways and reliable, though extremely 
sensitive and apt to imagine a cause of offence where 
none had been given. Pedro spoke Spanish, was an 
efficient packer, could make tortillas, and was a good 
all-round man, quick in his actions but often careless. 



INTO THE HILLS 299 

He was unusually intelligent, though of an unpleasant, 
uneven temper. We had selected the best animals, all 
burros, with the exception of my riding mule, and took 
along only the most necessary things, leaving my tent 
and cot behind. Water would be scarce on the road, so 
we filled our large canteens in addition to the barrels, 
which usually furnished us with water for three days. I 
was glad to be off, and felt free and ready for action. 

The Indians on their trips from Los Papagos to Tina- 
jas Altas used to go through the pass between Sierra 
del Tuseral and Sierra Nina. I chose an unusual route, 
skirting the latter's southernmost point, which is a more 
laborious one on account of sand dunes to be crossed 
there. A dry arroyo passes between this point and a 
high wall of sand dunes and then runs west for a very 
short distance before it is lost in the sand. Our animals 
worked well with the exception of the "doctor's" little 
burro, which did not like the trip, but later mended its 
ways. 

It was somewhat surprising to find that the waves 
of the large sand dunes reached quite up to the foot 
of the south-western part of the Sierra Nina. While 
looking for a camping place here, I met with the start- 
ling sight of a pair of blue overalls, quite new looking, 
lying among the dunes, and a few yards farther I came 
across a red woven blanket of poor quality. The Ind- 
ians both declared without hesitation that they had be- 
longed to *'Melicano" (an American). No place seems 
deterrent to the prospector; he is lured farther and far- 
ther away, for what he is looking for may be found just 



300 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

in some lonely hill that looms up before his eyes among 
the sand dunes. He throws all caution to the winds and 
only on his return does the water question become seri- 
ous to him. This one probably had attached some hope 
of water to the dry arroyo which is here covered with 
sand but is traceable among the dunes by the experi- 
enced eye. His senses became bewildered and the last 
stage of suffering from thirst had probably been reached 
when he began to throw off his clothes; such would be 
the account of all those who know the desert. When 
we made our camp near some palo fierro trees, Pedro 
told me that Doctor Pancho had taken possession of the 
red blanket. It was a ghastly relic to carry along, so I 
offered him two pesos (dollars) to leave it behind, to 
which he readily consented, laughing at the same time 
in his quiet way. 

The sand dunes, which seemed eternal, were found 
the next morning to be at this point a small branch from 
the main body, running in waves from south-west to 
north-east, and they were only a mile and a half across. 
After passing them we travelled over hard, gravelly 
soil; on my left, south-westward, as we followed Sierra 
Nina to its end, was spread before my eyes a vast ex- 
panse of llanos and sand dunes, with Sierra del Viejo 
running into it from a northern direction, and mountain 
tops appearing here and there — a lonely vista, but not 
depressing. 

It is well known that the clear air of the desert exag- 
gerates detail and makes distant objects look near; this, 
of course, is undeniable, but the opposite seems equally 



TRYING TO KEEP OUR ANIMALS 301 

true, for distant objects, such as mountains, again and 
again, appear farther away and much larger than they 
are in reahty. The sierras of the desert look impressively 
large at a distance of from ten to fifteen miles, but, on 
approaching them, it is found to be a small matter to 
scale them, as they may rise above the plains only one 
or two thousand feet. The afternoon of the preceding 
day I had a striking example of this deception after hav- 
ing gone through a very small pass in the southernmost 
part of Sierra Nina; the pass itself could not have been 
more than fifteen or twenty feet above the surface, and 
the knoll, which was thus separated from the main range, 
could not have been over fifty feet high, still, three- 
quarters of a mile farther on, in looking back at the lit- 
tle pass, the knoll and the range looked very much larger 
and higher, and, in fact, from my point of view, which 
was lower, they made quite an impressive appearance 
among the dunes. 

We struck the old Indian trail alluded to above, 
which, however, is indistinct and difficult to follow near 
the base of Sierra de la Lechugilla. Our animals all 
seemed very determined to wend their way back again 
to Los Papagos; this was our second day out and, being 
thirsty, they were likely to stray, so under conditions such 
as these, where water is found at such great intervals, 
it is imperative to hobble the animals very carefully for 
the night in order to secure against their loss, which 
might be fatal to the expedition. "We are going to 
watch them until the moon sets," said Pedro, but he 
was kept busy all through the night turning them back. 



302 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

and one of them, my riding mule, had finally to be tied. 
In this way they had little to eat and in the morning the 
burros overran our "kitchen," putting their noses into our 
boxes and trying to bite holes in our flour bags; they 
also attempted to remove the plugs from the water barrels. 

As usual, we had begun the day in darkness. Our 
way of knowing the time for rising was from the height 
of the planet Venus above the horizon, her approximate 
position being pointed out in the sky the evening before. 
We managed to get an early start in order to reach 
Tinajas Altas in good time, for this was our third day 
without water. The picturesque tree, ocotillo (fouqui- 
eria splendens), was noticeable everywhere growing in 
great profusion on the gravelly soil. Its magnificent 
vermilion-red flowers growing in tufts at the end of 
slender branches which emerge from a subterranean 
stem, in the manner of a bouquet, looked splendid against 
the sombre gray background of the sierras. The flowers 
appear before the leaves and on some of these plants 
the leaves were beginning to show. Also a good many 
species of cacti were observed, two of them with reddish 
flowers. It is curious that in the wide area along the 
coast south and west of Sierra de Lechugilla, Gila Range, 
Pinacate, and Sierra Blanca, cacti are so rare that they 
almost disappear. 

We travelled at a good steady pace along the weather- 
worn northern end of Sierra de la Lechugilla. In a 
thicket of a dry arroyo I tried to take some snapshots of 
a quail which exposed itself temptingly to my photo- 
graphic inclinations, and thus I fell ten or fifteen min- 



LEFT BEHIND 303 

utes behind my men. There were many thickets along 
the sandy arroyo in which their tracks were very easy 
to follow. As my party was so close ahead of me, I 
did not pay much attention to the quality of the tracks 
that after a while were found to lead across the arroyo 
toward a valley in the northern end of the sierra. Per- 
haps my men had made a detour to see if there were 
water in the small tinaja which Clodomiro Lopez had 
discovered there, and which could not be so very far 
away. A little farther along I made out fresh tracks of 
nailed boots; horses had passed as well as burros and, 
as the man evidently had returned the same way he had 
gone, it was difficult to distinguish the tracks I was fol- 
lowing. I had to cut across the bottom of the valley 
to make more sure of what I saw and it became quite 
plain that two horses, three burros, and one mule had 
passed here and that, consequently, my party had followed 
another course, so I returned to the arroyo and took the 
right tracks up again. 

My mule not having eaten anything the previous night, 
and having sweat much the day before, was worn out, and 
I had walked on foot for an hour and a half, dragging my 
animal along, when the footprints I followed halted at a 
long, low ridge, bare and stony; here, too, the man with 
the nailed boots and his animals appeared again making 
confusion. I was not lost, for my *'bump of locality" is 
well developed, and there is nothing to fear under circum- 
stances like these if one keeps one's head cool. The only 
thing to do was to make a large circle of the country to 
cut the tracks, as the expression goes, but it was vexa- 



304 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

tious, nevertheless, to have all this trouble. My Indians 
had hurried along, of course, for the sake of their animals, 
and it would never occur to them that I should have any 
difficulty in following them. I did not know how far 
away Tinajas Altas was, but once on their tracks it would 
be easy to find; daylight was essential for this, but even if 
I should have to stay out for the night, it would not be 
any great misfortune, for I had plenty of water in my 
canteen. The weather v/as rather sultry and there were 
cirrus and cirro-cumulus clouds which sometimes hid the 
sun from view, but it did not feel warm, as a soft breeze 
from the north-west was blowing. 

Having made sure that my men had travelled in no 
other direction, I returned to the low stony ridge, and by a 
careful examination I found that stones had been scratched 
or turned over, indicating the way they had passed. They 
had followed the crest of the ridge for a couple of hundred 
yards, then descended, making for the range of the Tinajas 
Altas. I followed their tracks up to a mile's distance from 
the range, then I knew I was right, so I directed my steps 
to a fresh looking palo fierro for a short and well-earned 
rest in its grateful though scanty shade before continu- 
ing my journey. My mule took to the green leaves of 
this attractive desert tree, while I had a frugal lunch of 
toasted wheat and some California dried prunes. 

In my meandering course that day I had come across 
many tracks of which the most conspicuous were those of 
the wagons employed fourteen years ago by the Inter- 
national Boundary Commission, and which in countries 
other than arid might have been judged a few months old. 



NEWS OF THE WILDS 305 

They had had a camp somewhere between the two sierras 
and water was brought from Tinajas Altas. Tracks 
left by human activity in a soKtary region hke this are 
disturbing and seem to be out of harmony with the rest of 
nature. To one who for the first time travels in the 
desert, the attention which Indians and Mexicans pay to 
tracks, whether of human beings, horses, or of other do- 
mestic animals, is not understood, while those of wild ani- 
mals seem more to the point. All tracks are to them as 
newspapers to us, and after having been for some time 
in the desert, one becomes equally interested in the stories 
they tell. 

What was this man with the nailed boots doing here ? 
Did he belong to the party of suspicious looking Mexi- 
cans whom the American prospectors from Tucson pre- 
sented with provisions in Tinajas Altas ? Or was he one 
of those whom the imagination of my impulsive Mexican 
credited with the murder of an American found dead on 
the playa.? The hobnails did not seem to favor either 
theory. In this part of the continent only Americans use 
that kind of shoes; Mexicans prefer those of lighter 
weight. These must be American tracks and they must 
be those of a prospector, for they lead along the moun- 
tain sides and the prospector likes to see the formation of 
the rocks near by. The tracks did not point to some 
runaway, because they appeared in different parts, as if 
the man had been on leisurely business. I felt reassured 
as to the "vileness of man," though surely the ''prospect 
pleased" in spite of the absence of water; the traveller is, 
in fact, apt to forget that this is a waterless region. 



3o6 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

Along the banks of the arroyo where I had my siesta 
an exuberant growth of flowers was conspicuous for hun- 
dreds of yards. There were only two kinds, and they 
were both common bushes in this region, but, still beauti- 
ful in their best spring attire and of an unusual develop- 
ment, they presented a garden-like appearance. Here 
chuparosas grew as high as a man and twice that in diam- 
eter, each with thousands of labiate flowers, Venetian red 
in color. Interspersed with them was the white brittle 
bush bearing a dense mass of bright yellow flowers which 
resembled marguerites. There was no dust in the walks 
of this garden of nature, but only the cleanest, sandy 
gravel. Spring was in the air and I had seen the grease- 
woods that day covered with their lustrous flowers. In 
trying to photograph the quail I had been compelled to 
make my way through a luxuriant growth of the thorny 
quaviri bush now in leaf and with blue flowers, and the 
palo verde, from which my quail sent forth its defiant 
and melancholy cry, had already half developed blos- 
soms which a little later would appear in extraordinary 
abundance. 

The landscape gave an impression of moist sub- 
tropics and not of a country on the greater part of which 
no rain had fallen for nearly half a year. Probably a 
scanty flow of water had run in the arroyo for the last 
time on January i, when it rained at Yuma, but, rain 
or no rain, spring in that country comes as usual, and 
there was no indication of the lack of water. To be 
sure, little animal life was seen that day beyond the 
quail and two small birds which told me that water 



IN COMMUNION WITH NATURE 307 

could not be so very many miles away, but there was 
nothing to depress one in the peaceful landscape, over 
which the sun sent its wealth of light. To me the des- 
ert is radiant with good cheer; superb air there certainly 
is, and generous sunshine, and the hardy, healthy look- 
ing plants and trees with their abundant flowers inspire 
courage. One feels in communion with nature and the 
great silence is beneficial. Could I select the place 
where I should hke best to die, my choice would be one 
such as this. I hope at least it may not fall to my lot 
to pass away in New York, where I might be embalmed 
before I was dead and where it costs so much to die 
that I might not leave enough wherewithal to defray the 
expenses of a funeral. 



CHAPTER XIX 

I OVERTAKE MY MEN— AGAIN AT TINAJAS ALTAS— PROGRESS 
UNDER DIFFICULTIES— EXPLORING IN LOS MEDANOS— AS- 
TONISHING DISPLAY OF FLOWERS— PICTURESQUE CAMP ON 
THE DUNES— I LOSE MY RIDING MULE— SIERRA DEL ROSARIO 
—TRAVEL AT NIGHT— THE WONDERFUL "ROOT OF THE 
SANDS" 

My mule and I felt better for the little rest and with 
fresh gathered strength we continued our tracking and 
arrived in good time at Tinajas Altas, where I was de- 
lighted to find my two Indians. Since I had been at this 
place last some bushes had been burned in the arroyo, 
and there had also been dug two long, deep holes in the 
ground which served immediately to solve the mystery 
surrounding those Mexicans we had heard of, who were 
so strangely behaving and so well armed. They had 
been engaged in an occupation dearly loved by many of 
their countrymen — that of digging for hidden treasures. 
To bury money was the usual method of guarding it 
during the period of unsettled conditions in Mexico, and 
rumor has it that a great deal of plata (silver) was once 
deposited in this place for safe-keeping. People who 
returned from California in the fifties, or people who 
robbed those who did not return, have also been credited 
with the burying of treasures here. 

At six o'clock, after a fresh gale from the south, 

there was a slight attempt at rain, which was repeated 

308 



THE NEST OF THE LITTLE BIRD 309 

at nine o'clock when the wind ceased and the moon 
broke through the clouds. A few birds were singing at 
daybreak and there were numbers of bees and also bum- 
blebees on the blossoms of the greasewoods. In a palo 
fierro that spread its branches over our "kitchen" I dis- 
covered the nest of a characteristic desert bird, the gnat- 
catcher (polioptila). Curious that this little bird could 
find its way to these lonely, hidden pools, fifty miles 
from the nearest watercourse, I climbed up to take a 
close look at it. Though the bird on the nest seemed 
restless, continually moving her black head to either side, 
she still remained sitting, and only repeated warnings of 
the male, which darted anxiously down toward her, 
finally caused her to fly away. The nest was cup- 
shaped and beautifully made of steel gray fibre taken 
from the seed pods of a certain vine, philihertea linearis, 
of which the Papagoes eat the pods either raw or boiled. 
Pedro, upon seeing my interest in the nest, expressed 
concern lest I should molest it, which was rather sur- 
prising, as he did not seem to harbor any other humane 
feelings with regard to animals either in his hunting ex- 
peditions or in the treatment of his own burro. 

The sooner we undertook the proposed expedition to 
the unexplored sierra the better, while our animals were 
still in good condition, and one day's rest was all that 
could be allowed. My mule had drained the last water 
in the lower tank, so the Indians with a bucket scooped 
down some eighty gallons from the one next above. On 
the morning of our start el doctor did not succeed in col- 
lecting the burros until after nine o'clock. Further time 



3IO NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

was consumed in driving them up to the tank to drink, 
and after their loads were put on they seemed to take 
unkindly to the road and hid themseh^es among the 
greasevvood bushes, giving my men no end of trouble, so 
It was nearly eleven o'clock when we finally got under 
way. 

In order to allow my mule, which was very tired be- 
sides having a swollen back, to recuperate, I rode a 
burro, the first experience of this kind In my life. It 
was not exactly pleasant, for the tiny though strong 
animal had evidently never carried a rider on its back 
before, as she had been only used for carrying wood. 
She had absolutely no "mouth" and only a garrotes 
was It possible to make her move, and even that way 
sometimes failed. However, she could be made to go 
as long as she saw the other burros ahead, and by great 
and continued use of brute force I managed to keep 
along with the rest of the party up to the southernmost 
point of the range. Here I had to stop a few minutes to 
take an observation for my map, a sufficient time to al- 
low the pack train to be lost from sight among the trees 
and bushes, and therefore, when I again mounted my 
diminutive ass, she absolutely refused to move in any di- 
rection. I had to dismount and try to drive her ahead 
of me, holding her by the rope, but only by running 
three times as much as she did, in order to prevent her 
from taking the wrong direction, and continually beating 
her, could I manage to make any progress. We ran into 
choyas, the spines of which fastened themselves into her 
face and onto me, and there was nothing else to do but 



AN EXASPERATING RIDE 311 

to get rid of them, as they are troublesome and painful 
beyond description; then she would run in under the 
strong thorny branches of the palo fierro, from where 
she could be extricated only with the most energetic use 
oi force majeure. After having advanced in this way two 
miles in a blazing sun, I found Pedro waiting for me 
farther down the arroyo, not wishing to leave me be- 
hind again. It was two o'clock and we were both hun- 
gry, but ''A quel se fue''—"h.e [Pancho] had gone on'' 
— and we decided not to lose time by eating lunch, for 
I wanted to get as near the mountains as possible be- 
fore night. 

We passed the mountain that I call Cerro Pinto, 
to the south of the sierra, which is of a different, very 
dark color, and came out on the llanos south-west of it. 
The mountain range, which was our goal, here presented 
itself in full view. It runs in the usual direction and 
consists of several parts, some of them single mountains, 
stretched out for about fourteen miles. There are two 
main bodies of the sierra, each little range being per- 
haps four miles long; then follow mountains at both 
ends, more or less connected, some of them, especially 
those toward the , north-west, being half submerged in 
huge sand dunes. The shape of the mountains is the 
usual one, the crests resembling the teeth of a saw. 
This succession of hill-tops is conspicuous even at a great 
distance; hence the name of rosario (rosary), which has 
been proposed, is appropriate and it should be called 
Sierra del Rosario. 

The soil was harder than expected, and travel, ac- 



312 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

cordingly, was quite easy. A wagon track, which was 
no doubt that of a prospector, led out in the same direc- 
tion, but after a mile or two the wagon seemed to have 
turned back. A belt of large, bare dunes stretched in 
front of us, flanking the sierra toward the north. We 
steered toward the central part where the dunes are 
somewhat lower. 

After six miles' travel from Cerro Pinto, we struck 
again the arroyo which we had left there. Its course, 
which lay perhaps only a mile and a half from our route, 
was easily distinguished by the growth of palo fierro on 
its banks, and farther down low sand dunes appeared on 
both sides of it. 

On reaching the arroyo I was agreeably surprised by 
a magnificent display of flowers. It was again the (sno- 
thera trichocalyx that appeared, but on a much vaster 
scale than anything so far seen. Innumerable plants sep- 
arated from each other by wide spaces seemed like old 
friends to me, as the large, pure white flowers nodded in 
the mild, south-western breeze of a late afternoon. The 
verdure of the plants was intense and they looked as 
fresh as if they were growing on the highlands of Nor- 
way. Some of the bunches were over five feet in diam- 
eter and had more than a hundred flowers. It may be 
that the famous rain of January the ist of an other- 
wise rainless winter had reached here. What the vast 
stretches of low sand dunes in that western region are 
like, after the ordinary winter showers, may be easily 
imagined, and a long journey to see them would be 
worth the while of a lover of nature. Although the 




OENOTHERA TRICHOCALYX, NEAR SlERRA DEL RoSARIO 




(EnOTHERA TRICHOCALYX, NEAR SlERRA DEL RoSARIO. A FINE GROWTH 




CEnOTHERA TRICHOCALYX, SOUTH OF SlERRA BlANCA 



PERFUME AND FLOWERS 313 

white flowers were the most conspicuous, three more 
species were growing here. There would be places 
where only yellow flowers grew, the smaller species 
{baileya multiradiata) reminding one of certain mar- 
guerites; the larger species was an encelia. Then again, 
and this was perhaps more frequent, some flowers which 
resembled verbena, of a deep rose purple {abronia um- 
hellata) would appear exclusively; they grew in beds, 
close to the surface, and made a most charming picture. 
These had a strong perfume such as that of night vio- 
lets, while the white ones had only a slight scent, like 
that of water-lilies. 

It was half an hour before sunset when we entered 
this field of beauty, the men wading knee-deep among 
the flowers and paying no more attention to them than if 
they were air, while the burros ate them as they passed 
along. The air was filled with perfume during the three 
miles we travelled through this most attractive nursery 
of mother nature. V/e then climbed up on the great 
sand dunes and, as darkness set in, made camp there, 
a fine view of the sierra, still more than three miles dis- 
tant, before us. 

I warned Pedro to hobble all the animals especially 
well. There was no other danger than that of losing 
some animal in the night through carelessness in tying 
the rope which binds their forelegs together. He as- 
sured me that it had been done carefully, but he was 
in a bad humor and said there was no wood, so he was 
not going to prepare any food. It was late and he was 
hungry and had much to do, as the "doctor" was not 



314 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

able to be of much assistance in ** kitchen" work, so I ex- 
cused his mode of expressing himself. I went out myself 
to gather canutillo and dry branches from some solitary 
greasewood bushes nearby and the "doctor" also brought 
a load of canutillo. I told Pedro there was no necessity 
for making tortillas that night, that we would open two 
cans of corned beef and one of tomatoes. He made coffee 
and we had a good supper. It was Pedro's habit to get 
angry and say harsh things without warning, but his 
wrath passed very quickly. It seemed nice to be among 
the medanos again; the day had been very fatiguing and 
it was pleasant to stretch oneself out on a soft bed of 
clean sand, while viewing by moonlight the sierra we 
were to visit the next day. 

In the morning Doctor Pancho brought the bad news 
that my riding mule had broken its hobble and gone. 
He showed the piece of strong horse-hair rope which 
in Mexican fashion had served as a hobble. I had my 
suspicions that it was a matter of carelessness on the 
part of Pedro who was as stubborn and know-it-all as 
the burro he rode, intelligent and efficient as he other- 
wise was. The mule probably had started back to our 
camp at Los Papagos and, though the "doctor" offered 
to go out again and look for it, small hope could be at- 
tached to the success of his efforts. It was an unpleas- 
ant prospect, having to exchange my spirited young ani- 
mal with an excellent gait for a burro, but the sooner I 
reconciled myself to its loss, there being slight chance of 
its recovery, the better for me. After I had taken some 
photographs, changed films in my kodaks, and made 



GUARDING AGAINST MISCHIEF 315 

additions to my map, we put the baggage together and 
covered it with my tent fly, the two barrels of water, 
the most important part of our outfit, being in that 
way safe from attack from the burros; the latter have 
a peculiar way of removing the two wooden stoppers 
from the barrel with their teeth and then overturning it 
to get at the water. They are also mischievous in other 
ways and will chew up papers, but there was nobody 
else to guard against, and this is one advantage at least 
that one has in the desert. 

Doctor Pancho had already departed on his rather 
hopeless quest, when Pedro and I, each mounted on 
a burro, started for our unknown land. The sand dunes 
lasted for three miles more, up to a distance of a mile or 
so from the mountain range. We were still surrounded 
by flowers in all the little valleys of the sand dunes, and 
as the latter diminished in height the number of flowers 
increased until at last in the low outskirts we met with 
an unusual wealth of the purple kind, forming a carpet 
for the greasewoods and even growing on the somewhat 
harder soil next to the sand. 

These hitherto unvisited mountains showed the usual 
formation of light gray granite with streaks of reddish 
color. Seen at close range, the sierras of the desert re- 
gion, weather-worn and washed away, cannot be pro- 
nounced attractive looking, but such is certainly not the 
case with the vegetation, which they are instrumental 
in bringing forth in that arid region. For the very soil 
of its growth once formed part of these mountains and 
may be called their detritus. We ascended a pass in a 



3i6 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

spur of the mountains toward the north and east and 
returned by another, some two hundred and fifty feet 
above the base. There was a nice view from there, 
north-west over the httle valley or inlet, sand dunes 
like huge snow fans breaking in over the mountains 
toward the north and threatening to cover them up. 
The dry arroyo of the inlet was surprisingly wide in its 
short whirling course, which is edged by numerous palo 
fierro trees, indicating that the mountain sides are capa- 
ble of gathering much water at times. Old trails were 
passed, and broken pottery and a pounding-hole, in which 
the Indians had crushed mezquite beans, were evidences 
of the presence formerly of Papago Indians, who camped 
here at times, carrying water with them, doubtless in 
gourds. 

The odor of the stunted torote tree and other resinous 
plants was agreeable. Along the base of the mountains 
the flowers of the palo fierro attracted many hymenop- 
tera. I noticed a small gray bird, perhaps a thrasher, 
running among the stones on the mountain side near the 
base; an unmistakable thrasher of a larger size was also 
seen. Retracing our steps around the southern part of 
the middle mountain, we reached through an easy pass 
the west side of the sierra. Contrary to our expecta- 
tions, a small llano was found here, covered with 
greasewood growth and skirted by sand dunes at four or 
five miles' distance toward the south. Fresh tracks of 
mountain-sheep were seen. The shrill notes of hawks 
startled the silence as usual and toward sunset I could 
distinguish the singing of three different birds. The 



A MOONLIGHT RIDE 317 

water In Tinajas Altas, from twenty to twenty-five miles 
away, is the nearest. 

It grew dark before we were able to begin our return 
to camp. Approaching the place where we had seen 
such a quantity of the purple flowers, their delicious per- 
fume, which is strongest at night, was felt long before we 
could see them. The first thing to do was to strike our 
own tracks of the morning, else it would be decidedly 
difficult to find the camp as the dunes looked very much 
alike. When we had once struck them we could safely 
leave the rest to our riding animals, for the burros with 
remarkable ease are able to follow tracks even in a pitch- 
dark night. Pedro, who weighed 215 pounds, dismounted 
from his steed and put it ahead of the procession, which 
it eagerly led home. I had begun to be reconciled to my 
small but powerful mount; it seemed all muscle and 
hard as a rock, as it safely and surely made for camp, 
working knee-deep in the soft sand. 

The great waves of dunes extended in almost the 
same direction that we travelled, namely, toward north 
north-east. The moon cast its pale light over the pecul- 
iar landscape and made it look like winter. Travel at 
night always seems to take a long time, and we thought 
so, especially as the dunes grew higher. The fantastic, 
nonchalant canutillo, a greasewood bush half buried In 
the sand, and a tuft of grass here and there, were the only 
vegetation apparent. Finally a small but friendly and 
very welcome light appeared from our camp In a de- 
clivity between two waves of dunes; a few minutes more 
and our busy day was over. 



3i8 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

Doctor Pancho, in our absence, had made himself use- 
ful by gathering a lot of fuel, such as it was, and he had 
cooked bones of mountain-sheep with tepari beans for us. 
He had not been able to overtake the mule, but he had 
prepared a very pleasant surprise for me in the shape of 
four specimens of the ''root of the sands," the Indian 
name for a much coveted dish. They lay in a row on 
the sand and looked very interesting. I had heard much 
of this plant, for even the Mexicans relish the camote of 
the medanos, as they call it, but the past rainless winter 
had held out little hope that my desire to see it would be 
realized. This peculiar plant, which is about three feet 
long, has no leaves and looks like a root covered with 
scales which grow thicker toward the top. It protrudes 
slightly above the sand, ending in a button-like excres- 
cence on the upper surface of which there is observable 
more than a dozen tiny light blue bells. It is only 
found in the large barren sand-hills in the months of 
March and April, and during this time the Papagoes in 
former days used to gather at such localities, living al- 
most exclusively on the plant. In May and June the 
part of the plant which grows above the surface withers 
and disappears. 

Selecting the three best ones as specimens to be 
taken along, I sampled one of them and found it to be 
a succulent and excellent food. It is more tender than 
a radish, as well as much more juicy, and the whole 
root can be eaten. It has a sweetish and agreeable 
flavor all its own. The Indians usually toast these plants 
on the coals, when they resemble sweet potatoes in taste, 





I 



o 





AN EXTRAORDINARY BOON 319 

but I prefer to eat them raw. They are an especially 
delicious relish to a thirsty man, and they also quickly 
appease his hunger; in fact, of all the many kinds of 
edible roots that I have tried in their uncooked state, 
used among natives in different parts of the earth, I 
know of none which can compare with this one in refresh- 
ing and palatable qualities. We came across some more 
of them later in the dunes south of Pinacate, which were 
a smaller form. They practically furnish both food and 
drink and, after an ordinary winter season of light show- 
ers, are found in great numbers among the largest sand 
dunes along the upper coast of the Gulf of California. 
They have also been found in other parts of Sonora as, 
for instance, at Lerdo. 

This extraordinary creation of the desert has the well- 
sounding as well as appropriate name ammohroma sonorce 
(sand food). Its native name is hiatatk {h'la, sand, sand- 
dunes; tatk, root). It was first mentioned by Dr. Asa 
Gray in 1854 as a *' large and fleshy root-parasite grow- 
ing in the naked sands of the desert at the head of the 
Gulf of Cahfornia." It had been discovered in the same 
year by Col. Andrew B. Gray, during his "survey and 
explorations for ascertaining the practicability of con- 
structing a southern railway to the Pacific." Apparently 
this highly useful plant might be transplanted to advan- 
tage to other desert regions of the earth. 



CHAPTER XX 

RETURN TO TINAJAS ALTAS— EVASI\-E TRiWELLERS— AN "OLD- 
TIMER"— THE CABEZA PRIETA MOUNTAINS— VAGUE NOTIONS 
OF PROPERTY— THE POOLS OF CABEZA PRIETA— A RAINY DAY 
—I REACH MY MAIN CAMP— THE ADVANTAGE OF TRAVEL WITH 
DONKEYS— MY INDIAN COMPANIONS— THE SAND PEOPLE 

While it was still dark the next morning, we were 
again in activity by the light of our guiding morning 
star — to rise at dawn would have been a very late hour 
for US. To the annoyance of Pedro, who always wanted 
to hurry, an hour was spent on the road photographing 
the flowers. It was night when we arrived at Tinajas 
Altas, a moderate gale from the south-east blowing, and 
we all felt tired. Four unwelcome strangers made their 
appearance, driving up their wagon outside of the little 
valley. They were evidently American citizens from 
somewhere on the Gila River, most of them Mexicans, 
and the owner of the wagon and the fat horses was an 
unpleasant old Italian. They were not prospectors, and 
they were a queer lot — very different from the ordinary 
Mexicans — and they gave me an uneasy feeling because 
of their underhanded and evasive ways. Probably they 
were nothing worse than treasure hunters, but it was a 
relief to have them continue their journey next morning, 
while we recuperated here another day. 

Pedro found that my lost mule had watered at the 

tinaja, and after following its tracks for many miles he 

320 



A PLEASANT MEETING 321 

concluded that it had continued on its way back; a few 
weeks later the Indians brought it to me in Sonoita. In 
the afternoon, toward sunset, a small man on horseback 
turned up. He was old and his face was almost hidden 
under an immense straw hat. His horse was dragging 
along a log of mezquite, for firewood is rare at Tinajas 
Altas. He bowed his head to me in a genial way and 
I saw at a glance that I had an "old-timer" before me. 
He was a prospector and his companion would soon 
follow him in a wagon. The new-comer was such a con- 
trast to the evasive men of the morning that his appear- 
ance gave me genuine delight. He said they were from 
Mohawk on a prospecting tour to Pinacate. I suggested 
that lava fields generally were not good places to find 
gold, although I had heard that samples of gold-bearing 
malpais (lava) have been picked up in the region north 
of Pinacate. It was just there that he was going, and 
from a pouch tied to a string around his neck he brought 
forth for my admiring eyes a most unusual sample of 
free gold that literally studded a dark brown piece of 
rock which, in fact, seemed to be old lava. 

In the evening I spent a pleasant hour in the cheer- 
ful camp of the two American Mexicans. The old pro- 
spector was an entertaining man, quite at home in the 
desert, where he had made many a journey in vain pur- 
suit of the elusive metal. He had prospected in Sierra 
del Viejo where Cipriano Ortega once worked a silver 
mine which was lost later and could never be found 
again. He had also been looking for the lost mission 
and showed where some years ago my friend, Prof. W. 



322 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

J. McGee, "walking barefoot," he said, for the sake of 
his heahh, had camped in a hut made among the rocks 
near the lower tank. Their outfit was not substantial; 
in a light wagon they carried their provisions, and their 
water supply was kept in cast-off Standard Oil cans. I 
told them that it would be difficult, and perhaps impos- 
sible, to find any water at the Tule well, but their en- 
thusiasm and determination recognized no obstacles. 

As we were about to go our separate ways the next 
morning, the old prospector brought four eggs which he 
wanted to present to me. He urged me to accept them, 
as they had a dozen more for themselves. This would be 
a trivial matter in the ordinary routine of life, but was 
touching under circumstances like these. I promised in 
return to present him with mountain-sheep meat when he 
arrived at Los Papagos, where he was going to establish 
his camp and where I hoped to see him again later. He 
and his companion never turned up, however, and I sin- 
cerely hope that nothing untoward happened to them to 
which his thirty years' experience in the desert was inade- 
quate. 

The weather was much cooler than I expected on this 
trip, a nice breeze of moderate strength blowing every 
day, and the nights were almost too cool. Even in April it 
is still possible to travel in that region without much dis- 
comfort. At the Cabeza Prieta range we made camp in a 
pass near some large red trachyte boulders. The red- 
dish looking mountains seemed to be even more than 
usually narrow-crested and steep. We made a tour 
through the central part and came to an interesting 



CONFLICTING CONSIDERATIONS 323 

short, box-like canon surrounded by mountains that 
seemed higher and more difficult to ascend than they were 
in reahty. While we were considering as to which way 
we had better proceed, two female mountain-sheep ap- 
peared frequently on a ridge against the sky, watching 
us for many minutes and then disappearing and return- 
ing again. As we needed provisions, the two Indians 
went after them, while I took a circuitous route for camp. 
The flock consisted of seven, which I observed moving 
about the top of a ridge in leisurely fashion for some 
time; they were all females and three of them very 
young. 

On my return to camp at dusk, my Indians had not yet 
arrived. At eight o'clock they slowly approached the fire 
carrying all the meat of two sheep. They had mistaken 
the road, and had come across an American campo (tent) 
where they had discovered a sack half-full of onions and 
another with potatoes. Pedro told me that the doctor 
had helped himself from each sack and asked me whether 
I would eat them. As I answered him with a decided 
negative, he said they would eat them. 

It was not edifying to see my men consume the stolen 
goods, but as the heavy burden of meat they carried had 
made it impossible for them to take away with them any 
great quantity, I told them that Americans were huenos 
(generous) and probably would not mind. But I was 
very much put out when the next day, as we were filling 
our barrels at the tinajas of the Cabeza Prieta, I made the 
disagreeable discovery that we had two buckets instead 
of one. '^ A quel [the doctor] took it from the Americans,'' 



324 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

Pedro said. When I remarked reproachfully that this 
was not ridit and asked him with what the Americans on 

o 

their return would fill their barrels, he answered: "The 
doctor said there were six or seven and, as the Americans 
did not need them all, he carried off one." What can 
one do under such circumstances to satisfy the require- 
ments of ethics ? Travelling alone in the wilderness with 
two Indians, I was to a certain extent in their power, and 
was forced to act diplomatically; we were too far away 
to return the bucket, for our supply of flour would soon be 
exhausted and our animals had to be considered. 

There are said to be as many as eight pools at Ca- 
beza Prieta, each higher than the other. The four lower 
ones were empty, and the water had to be scooped down 
from above from one to the other, so that we could fill 
our barrels and that our animals might drink. It is 
tedious and rather primitive to have to depend on tinajas 
for one's existence, and these were even less accessible 
than usual, the entrance being through a narrow canon. 
On entering this I had noticed six heaps of stones 
placed in a row as if to show the way to the water and 
had been made by the Indians long ago. Later on, at 
the pass near Tinaja del Tule, I saw six much smaller 
stone heaps, five of them forming a circle ten feet in di- 
ameter. The sixth pile was outside of the ring toward 
the west, separated from the rest by the same distance 
as that between each of the others. 

The day surprised us by being actually rainy, foggy, 
and chilly, and the mountain tops were hidden in mist. 
The showers came usually from the south-east and would 







? >-*., 



• riift 



JH 



Sierra del Rosario, northern part 







Cabeza Prieta Range. An interior, looking westward. A dry arroyo at 

THE BOTTOM 



AN AGREEABLE RETURN . 325 

last only a few minutes, occurring Intermittently, but 
toward six o*clock we had some heavier rain, and when 
we camped we were wet as well as our baggage. Three 
days later, on Sunday, March 27, we arrived again at 
Tinaja de los Papagos. The aspect of the landscape 
around the arroyo in which our camp was placed had 
changed much during our absence; it was like summer 
now, the mezquites were in their beautiful foliage and 
blossom, and the light-yellow flowers — ^yellower than 
lemon — of the palo verde were very conspicuous, making 
the arroyo yellow and green. The camp gave me quite 
a feeling of home. My tent looked agreeably white, clean, 
and comfortable among the trees, and the members of the 
expedition who had remained behind received us warmly. 
Guadalupe made tortillas and we were treated to a fa- 
mous stew of mountain-sheep that tasted good though 
it was cooked in only half an hour, the last onion having 
been reserved for the occasion. 

It had been a very hazy day; distant mountains stood 
enveloped In a thin mist and sand was raised on the 
llanos by an increasingly strong southern gale which 
sprang up during the afternoon. At sunset it abated in 
force and turned south-easterly. Though the air felt 
damp, the moon shone brightly when I retired for the 
night; ten minutes later, at nine o'clock, I was surprised 
by the falling of a few drops of rain on my tent. The sky 
was now overcast and threatening, so we had to prepare 
for a rainy night. Hardly had we covered up the bag- 
gage, a matter of hve minutes, when a light breeze from 
the north cleared the sky and it was calm again. Thus 



326 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

ended the little shower of the desert which had been 
born from the atmospheric disturbances of a whole day. 

I had been away with the two Indians for thirteen days, 
our burros travelling nearly one hundred and fifty miles, 
and during that time we had called for water only at two 
places, Tinajas Altas and Tinajas de la Cabeza Prieta, 
but our animals returned in good condition. I had 
learned at least one thing on this short expedition, and 
that is that donkeys are without comparison the best ani- 
mals for exploration of the American desert. Remark- 
ably strong and very hardy for their size, they are con- 
tented with humble fare, making themselves at home in 
any camp the traveller may choose in that arid region. 
Their first move is to caress each other's necks, while the 
horses stand about sulky and discontented; next they 
find some bushes or leaves of trees or odd-looking plants 
to eat, and in the winter three days without water does not 
trouble them. They know how to take care of themselves 
and, having once been shown a waterhole, they do not have 
to be led to it again, but go thither at their pleasure; 
horses usually have to be driven to the hole again and 
again. Donkeys do not stray much and in the morning 
the traveller will nearly always find them all together 
ready to continue the journey. The more a burro is 
loaded, the faster it walks, in order to reach camp so 
much the sooner. The burro is not as rough to ride as 
one would expect; a few have a gait as pleasant as that of 
a good mule, but it must be confessed that there are draw- 
backs to its use under the saddle. It is slower than a 
horse or a mule and, although far more intelligent than 



EULOGY OF THE DONKEY 327 

either, it is stubborn and difficult to move when one is 
anxious to reach a certain point, to take a quick photo- 
graph, etc. If riding alone, it is next to impossible to 
have one's burro stop more than for a few seconds, as its 
sole aim is to be close to its mates. In order to take 
down notes one either has to dismount or stop the pack 
train. This drawback could be remedied by having a 
man following on another burro. And if the traveller 
knows how to accommodate himself to various conditions, 
he will find this animal invaluable for certain kinds of 
exploration. 

My two Indians, though not altogether pleasant com- 
panions, had served me as well as could be expected. As 
a packer and manager of our outfit Pedro had done good 
work, even measured by a white man's standard. He 
was a fair cook, though too stubborn and set in his ways 
to accept any advice. He was able to repair anything 
well that might get out of order on such a trip, and he did 
all his work with incredible quickness. He had taught 
himself to cut hair and exercised his dexterity on my 
head to my entire satisfaction. Being furthermore a good 
tracker and an excellent shot, he would make an admir- 
able servant on any expedition but for his bad tem- 
per; he was inclined unexpectedly to say disagreeable 
things, but, if he were met by a decided countenance, 
would in a few minutes be pleasant in manners and in 
speech. It was impossible to get any ethnological infor- 
mation from him, owing to his great disinclination to dis- 
cuss Indians and their affairs. He was taciturn, and what 
he had to say he uttered in a very low voice. Not much 



328 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

escaped his watchful eyes, however, and his physiognomy 
betrayed brutahty and cruehy, though he was not without 
tender feelings, as evidenced when he did not want to cut 
down a palo fierro in which he discovered a little bird had 
its nest. His courage was undisputed, and if he liked a 
white man he would in case of danger stand by him to 
his last breath. 

Doctor Pancho, the medicine-man, had rather an en- 
gaging, humorous face. He was always ready to serve 
and he, too, was quick in his actions. He had an ener- 
getic disposition and did good service in finding wood 
quickly, grinding coffee, boiling meat, cleaning pigeons, 
and such work. He was even-tempered, and only once, 
when I, after having lost my note-book, had to ask him 
some questions over again in regard to local names, did 
he rise up in dignified wrath, saying with much feeling 
that he had given me this in four books, and if I wanted 
to hear it again I would have to ask somebody else. 
But, taking it all in all, he was willing to give information, 
and, what was more, gave it correctly, which was much to 
be thankful for. There was a certain slyness about him, 
and the Indians were afraid of him as a sorcerer. His 
mind was always on the alert for something that might 
prove useful to him. He used to pick up discarded papers 
and put them away for safe-keeping. He was not very 
good in following tracks, but knew how to trap wild ani- 
mals, and the rapid and dexterous manner in which he 
prepared them for eating reminded me of the ways of the 
Australian savages. His ideas about property were not 
highly developed and, though he was a man of a much 



NOTES ON THE SAND PEOPLE 329 

nicer disposition than Pedro, in an emergency I think I 
should rather trust myself to the brutal sagacity of the 
latter. 

Judging from these two and from a third one, Agustin, 
that I knew, the sand people were not a pleasant lot to 
deal with. They were rapacious and probably merciless 
to strangers, whether Indians or Mexicans. Agustin was 
a distant, disagreeable kind of a man, whose confidence 
it would take years to win. According to Mexican ac- 
counts, the areneiios formerly made the roads dangerous 
to pass, and nobody could follow them into the sand dunes 
to their principal retreat at Pinacate. 

These Papagoes were called Hiatit Gotam, "sand 
people. " According to my companion, the medicine-man 
Pancho, who spent his early life in the dunes, they were 
not many in number and used to travel all together. 
He asserted that a peculiar disease accompanied by the 
vomiting of "yellow and green and then blood" killed 
most of those natives, and thought that it was brought 
from Yuma. The course of the disease took from four to 
ten days. It probably is the same affliction that is men- 
tioned on the Papago calendar stick (page 74) as having 
occurred in 1851. The remaining four families decided 
to retire to other parts and for the last forty or fifty years 
the sand dune country has been uninhabited. These 
natives probably never exceeded in number one hundred 
and fifty all told, and their head-quarters were at Hotuni- 
kat (sunset), south of Pinacate. The great annual feast, 
now given at Quitovac, was removed from the Pinacate 
region before my informant's time — thus at least over 



330 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

seventy years ago — because the old men who had charge 
of the ceremonial objects of the feast had died, and it 
was decided that the latter should be taken care of at 
Quitovac. 

These sand people were intelligent, healthy, and able- 
bodied, and managed to make a good living in an abso- 
lute desert. Their existence depended upon the knowl- 
edge of the few places in the mountain ranges, not even 
one in each range, where rain fills the tinajas, as well as 
of the few places along the coast where water can be found 
by digging for it. Once where to look for water is known, 
the difficulties in making a living out there are not so 
great as one would expect. In hot weather they followed 
jack-rabbits in the loose sand until the latter were ex- 
hausted, and caught muskrats by burning the accumu- 
lations of cactus spines with which those animals keep 
enemies away from their burrows. They also killed 
mountain-sheep, which were not a difficult quarry, with 
their bows and arrows, especially in the large craters, and 
they were even able to approach mule-deer and antelope 
near enough to kill them by the same weapon. Lizards 
were eaten. At certain seasons they went to the coast 
for the fishing, catching as many fish as they wished. 

A single agricultural site may be attributed to the 
sand people, called Siivuk, south-east of Tinajas de 
Emilia, in Pinacate. Maize, squashes, and beans were 
planted here by means of a stick, on a very small scale, 
but the majority of these people had no agriculture what- 
ever. They found good edible plant food in the dunes, 
especially ammohroma sonorce, the wonderful camotes 



NATURAL CONDITIONS 331 

which the Indians knew how to gather all the year round, 
though after May that part of the plant which is above 
ground withers away. They had their season of chia and 
used to come as far as Quitovaquita and Santo Domingo 
to gather mezquite beans (called by the Mexicans pechita) 
and eat sahuaro and pitahaya. Near all the tinajas are 
seen round holes from six to ten inches deep, made into 
the solid rock, in which these Indians pounded mezquite 
beans. Their pestles are frequently found. The beans 
of the palo fierro were toasted, ground, and consumed as 
pinole. After the scanty winter rains the juicy plant of 
the sand dunes, Oenothera trichocalyx, was boiled and eaten. 

The clothing of these people was made from the skin 
of mule-deer, antelope, or mountain-sheep. The hair was 
first removed with a bone taken from the lower foreleg 
of the animal, and the skin was smeared with the brains. 
The root of the torote tree, crushed and left in water, fur- 
nished necessary material for the tanning process. The 
man wore shirt and breech cloth, the woman a short skirt. 
They killed sea lions on the rocks by hitting them on 
the nose, and from their skins sandals and straps were 
cut. From the badger's hair they were able to plait 
ribbons for the hair and make twine to be used for the 
breech cloth. Women wore sandals, but no hair ribbons. 
The skirt was kept up by strings of buckskin. 

The burden basket was not used, but they made carry- 
ing nets as well as pottery, material for which is abundant 
on the coast. Baskets were manufactured from torote, 
willow, and bulrushes. In order to make bows, these 
Indians travelled as far as the Colorado River to get 



332 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

willow as material. Arrows were made from the arrow- 
bush. Arrow-points of hard stone have occasionally been 
found in that country, but never stone axes. 

They had foot-races and also practised the game of 
throwing with the end of a thin pole two short pieces of 
wood which are linked together. (Page 89.) In the 
winter time they lived at a higher elevation in the moun- 
tains where they erected grass huts. Once a year a jour- 
ney was made to Yuma to barter with the Indians there, 
and maize, tepari beans, and squashes were exchanged 
for baskets and sea-shells. Remnants of these people are 
living at Quitovaquita and the Growler Well, both places 
in Arizona. A few families are said to live near the rail- 
way station, Adonde, near Wellton, on the Southern Pacific 
line. 



CHAPTER XXI 

AN INDIAN HERMIT— ABORIGINAL COOKING— AGAIN IN SONOITA 
—ANCIENT VILLAGE SITES AROUND THE ALTAR RIVER— A 
REMEDY FOR SNAKE BITES— I ARRIVE AT AJO, ARIZONA— GILA 
BEND RESERVATION— AN ANCIENT FORTRESS— THE MARICOPA 
INDIANS— THE WAYS OF CIVILIZATION— THE PIMA INDIANS— 
CASA GRANDE— ITS BUILDERS— RETURN TO CIVILIZATION 

As we Started back for Sonoita, Caravajales, the 
Indian hermit of Los Papagos, joined us. He owns a 
burro and a horse and plants a little maize, besides rais- 
ing a few squashes and watermelons. He catches fish 
on the coast also, but camotes, the "roots of the sands,'* 
form his principal means of subsistence. In fact he lives 
almost entirely on these camotes, and is able to find 
them out of season. He often goes without food for 
days, which does not trouble him, as he is the proud 
possessor of a canteen and in his travels is never without 
water. He confided his secrets and domestic troubles to 
Guadalupe, who told me about them. When his wife left 
him a few years before, he decided to go back again to live 
in the medanos where he was born. Once a year he 
visits Sonoita to see relatives and to get drunk. There is 
no harm in the elderly man, but neither is he sympathetic. 
He is thin, rather bald, and almost completely deaf, but 
seems to be healthy. Recently he had been in Quitova- 
quita for two days and had remained without eating dur- 

333 



334 NEW TRAILS IN A/[EXICO 

ing that time; then he had ridden to get the camotes for 
three days more without food. 

On the slopes of the lava plateau north of Pinacate 
there was a notable increase in the number of the white 
choyas {opuntia fulgida), which looked at their best 
among scattered greasewoods and other bushes. Often 
at a distance I mistook them for the white or gray shirts 
of my men. At least six times I noticed branches of 
greasev/ood cut off and lying on the ground. This was, 
according to Pancho, the medicine-man, the work of jack- 
rabbits, which eat both branches and leaves. The Ind- 
ians in the evening cooked one of these animals in hot 
ashes covered with earth, on top of which a fire was made. 
The ''doctor" prepared it for cooking by breaking its 
legs with a stick (a matter of a few seconds) and then 
singeing the hair of the whole body over the fire. He 
had first cut off the ears, for they are considered a great 
delicacy, and put them aside to be eaten by him later. 
The meat of the jack-rabbit is much coveted by the 
Papagos, who often run these animals down on horse- 
back. Parties are sometimes gotten up for this kind of 
hunting. 

On reaching Sonoita nearly all the members of the 
expedition were allowed to depart, each taking home a 
sack of dried mountain-sheep meat, and I began to 
make various excursions in the neighborhood, once go- 
ing as far as Altar. While driving, one of our pair of 
mules actually stepped across a fine large rattlesnake. I 
expected to see it strike, for there was no time to stop as 
the reptile was entwined between the mule's feet, but 



ANTIQUITIES ON THE ALTAR RIVER 335 

for a wonder, they did not touch it and the snake made 
its escape calmly without even the usual rattling. 

I visited several ancient village sites in the Altar River 
valley. One, at the ranch of Llano Blanco, on the bank 
of the Magdalena River, just before its junction with 
the Altar River, was a mile long and a quarter of a 
mile broad. Thousands of pieces of hard stones, chipped 
away in the making of weapons or implements, were lying 
on the ground, and for six miles from there on until the 
Ventana ranch is reached, numbers of potsherds were seen, 
which may also be observed for a greater distance up 
the river. Numerous well-made stone objects have been 
found here as well as at Pitiquito, farther down the Altar 
River. Small stone images have been encountered in 
this valley; one, about four and a half inches high, made 
of a chocolate-brown stone much like jade in texture, 
was picked up by a vaquero on the ground near Pitiquito. 
Large bracelets of shell have been found here, and also 
some pecuhar antiquities consisting of stone bars or 
ceremonial wands, most of them cylindrical in shape 
and pointed at the ends, which I discovered in houses 
of the Mexicans as far west as the ranch Chireones, fifteen 
miles from Altar. 

In the District of Altar I heard very favorable reports 
of a remedy for bites of snakes and scorpions. The secret 
was conveyed to me for the benefit of the world at large, 
and my informant had learned it thirty years before from 
an Indian. The remedy consists of the excrements of 
a leaf-eating ant (pogonomyrmex barbatus), common in 
those parts and called mochomo, and a plant called ^0/0/2- 



336 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

drina. There are two kinds of golondrina, and it is the 
small one {amphorhia polycarpa) from the low mountains 
that is used, and not the one that grows two or three feet 
high in the cultivated fields. The two ingredients should 
be crushed, alcohol added, and the thick mixture applied 
to the wound and held there by a bandage. The pain 
should subside at once with this treatment. The addi- 
tion of leaves of the red-flowering oleander (in Spanish 
called laurel) is said to be an improvement. But the 
mochomo by itself is maintained to be wonderfully effec- 
tive. Perhaps the fact that the ants feed on the leaves 
of the greasewood, which are very antiseptic, may have 
something to do with the efficaciousness of the remedy. 
As my authority was an intelligent and judicious Mexican, 
an examination by a competent judge, especially of the 
mochomo, which is easily procured anywhere in that re- 
gion, would seem to be warranted. 

On my return to civilization from Sonoita, I crossed the 
boundary into Arizona, stopping first at Ajo, the name of 
an apparently great copper mine, on which work had been 
temporarily abandoned. Contrary to expectation, it is 
from the point of view of scenery a beautiful place, 
situated as it is among picturesque-looking hills. Even 
at a considerable distance, coming from the south, large 
streaks of green on some of the hill-tops due to the 
prevalence of copper are plainly visible. The weather 
was very warm for twelve days, and from the 24th of 
May till the 4th of June an average maximum tem- 
perature of nearly 106° F. was shown. The highest 
temperature was 117° F. on the 30th of May. When 



SEEING THE LAST OF THE PAPAGOES 337 

it attained this point the sensation was that of walking 
between great fires. However, the heat, being very dry, 
was quite bearable and the nights were pleasant. 

At Gila Bend railroad station I camped in a Mexican 
corral, and found my camp agreeable on account of the 
abundance of clear and easily accessible water, which was 
all the more satisfying after my long absence from civil- 
ized comforts of any kind. I continued my journey to a 
small reservation for the Papago Indians north of there, 
camping at the well of the Pelon rancheria under the 
shade of a clump of large mezquites. From here I made 
a visit to an ancient village known under the name of 
"The Fortress" {jortin in Spanish). Crossing the wide 
river-bed of the Gila River, on the banks of which bata- 
motes grew exuberantly, the village is found on top of a 
detached hill, which was admirably adapted for defence, 
being protected on the side easiest of access by a stone wall 
two hundred yards long, from six to eight feet high and 
from four to five feet wide, running east and west. The 
houses, like the wall, are made of stones well set without 
masonry. One of the largest houses measured sixteen 
by twenty feet, and the walls were three feet thick in all of 
them. A dozen dwellings were found outside of the wall, 
and nearly thirty were counted inside, standing in irregu- 
lar groups. The Papagoes call the fortress kokulisik 
(kSkulif corral). 

The Gila Bend Reservation consists of three ran- 
cherias: Pelon, or "lower village"; Tesota, or "second 
village," and an "upper village," which has only a Papago 
name, Siilimok ("burnt saddle"). There are about 



338 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

three hundred souls in all of them. In the "upper vil- 
lage" I found most of the people away harvesting wheat 
for the Pimas, for these Papago Indians are not restricted 
to the reservation. 

Arriving at the agricultural settlements on the Gila 
River, I felt as if I had come to another country. Miles 
of waving wheat and alfalfa fields and the smell of humid 
earth, all brought about by the magic of irrigation, were 
a delightful demonstration of the remarkable agricultural 
possibilities of certain portions of the great western desert. 

The agency of the Maricopa Indians was next reached. 
It is in the western corner of the Gila River Reservation 
and presented an attractive appearance situated among 
cultivated fields in the height of mid-summer. These 
were not Indian fields, as one would expect, but belonged 
to white farmers who owned, I was told, four of the irri- 
gating ditches, while the Indians had one. The land set 
apart for the latter is not good — only fair — but by heavy 
irrigation the Indians manage to make the alkaline soil 
serviceable. 

A comfortable looking cottage with red tiled roof 
and a shady veranda on a spacious greensward indicated 
where the agent lived, while at some distance from the 
house I noticed a number of shelves on the wall under the 
porch, built one above the other, and, at a casual glance, 
there appeared to be photographs placed there for sale, 
but as I passed through the gate I discovered that these 
were rows of medicine bottles within a large open closet. 
A drug store in the land of sunshine and good cheer! 
The idea of disease seemed wholly anomalous in this dry 



THE WHITE AND THE RED MAN 339 

air, bracing in spite of the noon-day heat. I knew, of 
course, that the Indians had acquired consumption since 
their contact with the whites, but I was puzzled to learn 
what other diseases this array of medicines was intended 
for. So I stepped up to a young, pleasant looking man, 
who was grooming his horses in a shed near by and who 
turned out to be the agent. *' Are the Maricopa a healthy 
race ?" I inquired. "No, I don't think so; there is much 
disease here." "So you need all that medicine which I 
see on the porch.?" "Yes, indeed; there has been an 
epidemic of measles and we still have ten cases, though 
whooping cough is now the great trouble, for it often de- 
velops into bronchial pneumonia and kills many, and we 
have had to close the day school. There is always con- 
sumption here, and I often have to treat syphilitic ulcers," 
he added as he concluded the distressing list of the effects 
of the so-called civilization on the surviving three hundred 
members of a once healthy tribe. 

The Pima Indians, for whose benefit the larger part 
of the Gila River Reservation was set aside, are not 
dying out, in spite of having suffered much from the 
whites, who have been known to divert the river water, 
the source of life to the Indians who live farther down 
its course. Their number is rather on the increase. 
According to information furnished me by the agent at 
Sacaton, there were living on the Gila River Reserva- 
tion in June, 1909, 4,086 Pima, 203 Papago, and ^^y 
Maricopa Indians. They are an industrious people and 
virile, though of a mild, even disposition. Since the 
first days of the coming of the whites, they were of as- 



340 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

sistance to them, showing as much kindness to the early 
explorers, pioneers, and gold seekers as the Apaches ex- 
hibited hostility. They used to raise cotton, which they 
still do to a small extent, and although they made blank- 
ets as late as forty years ago, spinning and weaving 
have been abandoned. Their basketry was noted for 
good workmanship, though It was inferior to that of the 
Apache, but since their contact with whites the art has 
much deteriorated. Small circular storehouses of twisted 
rolls of arrow-bush may be noticed outside some of the 
dwellings. Similar structures for the storage of mezquite 
beans may be seen on the roofs. At Gila Crossing a 
surprising number of old-fashioned round grass huts 
were observed. 

There are several ancient ruins In or near the coun- 
try occupied at the present day by the Pima, the most 
important of which is the noted Casa Grande which has 
often been described. The walls, from three and a half 
to four feet or more thick, are made of big blocks of 
earth or grout which when dried become as hard as 
stone. The rafters are of cedar and the rooms are sym- 
metrical; three stories remain, but there were four orig- 
inally. I viewed with much Interest the work that lately 
had been done for the United States Government to re- 
deem the original features of this place, thereby assist- 
ing any one at all concerned in the history of this con- 
tinent to get a clear Idea of the doings of the ancient 
people. Gratifying and necessary as is the preservation 
of what remained of the principal part of the ruins, It 
seems a pity that the shed erected for the purpose could 



AN ABORIGINAL MONUMENT 341 

not have been made large enough to permit a less ob- 
structed view of the grand building. It should have 
been higher and wider. I suppose economic considera- 
tions may have had something to do with the arrange- 
ment that comes dangerously near preserving the ruin 
out of sight. At any rate, its imposing character is lost. 
Nevertheless, it is to be hoped that the ruins, now that 
they have been cleared of debris and present a compre- 
hensible example of ancient American architecture and 
life, v^ill be made an objective point for visits of people 
interested in the early history of America. It is now 
possible to walk around in the well-preserved rooms 
where the Jesuit Father Kino said mass in 1694, the 
same year that the ruins were discovered. Visitors will, 
however, go further back and marvel at the skill of the 
ancient builders, although, if measured by modern stand- 
ards, faults may be found in the construction. An ex- 
hibition of implements and weapons found during the 
clearing up of the debris adds to the interest. 

The stone implements unearthed here are of the same 
general character as the ancient ones which I collected in 
the present-day Papagueria. A large stone scraper and 
a double-edged axe appear identical with specimens 
which were secured by me farther south in Arizona, and 
which I do not believe were made by the ancestors of the 
present Pima and Papago Indians. It is noteworthy that 
wooden hoes were unearthed at Casa Grande which seem 
to be exactly the same kind as those until quite recently 
used by the Papago, of which I was able to collect several 
specimens in the Santa Rosa valley, south of Kohatk. 



342 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

Their presence at Casa Grande does not in my opinion 
necessarily imply that the ancestors of the present oc- 
cupants of that region had anything to do with the build- 
ing of this noble structure. Granted that the methods 
of its makers were thoroughly aboriginal and even crude, 
it is a far step from the Pima and Papago dome-shaped 
grass huts, practical as they are in the desert, to the four 
story, thick-walled building in question. The decorative 
art of these two native peoples as compared, for instance, 
with that of the Pueblo Indians, is mediocre, and their 
handicraft in workmanship and finish does not even 
equal that of some of the western tribes who live under 
similar conditions. This certainly indicates a consider- 
ably lower state of culture than that suggested by the 
beautifully symmetrical, polished stone implements which 
have been found at Casa Grande and other ruins and 
ancient village sites of the region south of the Gila River, 
and farther south and east than the Altar River in Sonora. 
The lack of architectural skill evinced by the Pima and 
the Papago and their little developed aesthetic sense 
seem to me utterly at variance with the theory that the 
tribe or tribes in question built the Casa Grande. Its 
builders must be sought among their predecessors in the 
Papagueria. 

The trip from the ruins to the Casa Grande railroad 
station was made leisurely and in a short time. Arriv- 
ing there at sunset, I camped back of the houses among 
several small parties of teamsters, mainly Indians. The 
next morning I had a good wash-up and put on my best 
apparel so that my personal appearance should be more 



COMFORT VS. CIVILIZATION 343 

In harmony with the conventionahtles of civiHzation. 
Two hours' travel on the Southern Pacific Railway 
brought me again into Tucson. I had no difficuhy in 
getting accommodation at the best hotel, and was treated 
with much courtesy, but the discomfort of having to 
sleep within four walls, which a cloudless day had heated 
up to an abnormal degree, was too much for me. Every- 
thing I touched in my room was warm, and I felt as if 
I were In a Turkish bath with no breath of air to relieve 
the tension. People in half torpor were lying on their 
beds with their doors open. The temperature of the 
air outside was not unusually high, but the house had 
been built without any regard to climatic conditions. 
Dwellings for human occupancy In countries where such 
high temperature prevails should not be constructed as 
they are in colder regions. This is a very common fault, 
and people are apt to look upon the discomfort brought 
about by man's thoughtlessness as unavoidable or to ac- 
cept It as inscrutably providential. To shut out air and 
make no provision against a heat wave that lasts for 
months is not civilization; Its aim should be to make 
everybody independent of exterior circumstances and 
comfortable in all latitudes. Fond as I am of civilized 
life and all it implies, as I gasped for air during those 
restless hours I could not help longing for the fresh, 
cool, beautiful, and silent nights of my wild desert. 



CHAPTER XXII 

PHYSICAL AND MENTAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PAPAGO— 
EFFECTS OF CONTACT WITH WHITE MAN— MARITAL RELA- 
TIONS—WOMAN'S HIGH POSITION— INDUSTRIES— DIVISIONS OF 
THE TRIBE— RELIGION AND MYTHS— RACES AND GAMES- 
FIGHTS WITH APACHES— SHAM BATTLES— PRESENT CONDI- 
TIONS AND PROSPECTS OF THE PAPAGO 

To the characteristics of the Papago which have al- 
ready been given, I shall add here some observations and 
notes which may help to complete the picture of his 
present status as well as of his past. 

These Indians are naturally very healthy and many 
grow to be a hundred years old or more. A few years 
ago a woman who went out to gather pitahaya returned 
with the basket on her head full of fruit and a new- 
born babe in her arms. The total weight probably was 
not less than forty or fifty pounds. The heaviest bas- 
kets, when loaded with the juicy cactus fruits, may weigh 
as much as a hundred pounds. A native Indian is less 
affected by inflammatory processes than a white person; 
wounds heal by first intention. The following case, al- 
though referring to a Pima Indian, may properly be 
mentioned here, as the Papago are of the Pima tribe. 
A woman in childbirth was unable to deliver the placenta; 
but she recovered in a few days, though an American 
doctor, who saw her, expressed the belief that she would 
die. 

344 




±L ' f . Mi . , I- .1 

Papago: Gu.vdaltjpe, my companion from Ouito\ac 




Papago: Miguel, medicine man from La Nariz 




Girl 



Parents: Chinaman and Yaqui 



Boy 

Parents: Spaniard and Papago 



QUALITIES OF BARBAROUS MAN 345 

The men frequently have sHght moustaches. At 
present the men all have their hair cut short, but a lux- 
uriant growth was formerly considered a standard of 
beauty. It was occasionally washed with an infusion 
from the roots of a vine called adoji. Sometimes these 
natives would plaster the head with clay, to kill para- 
sites and ensure a better growth of hair. The women 
still take great care of this ornament to their persons and 
are often seen brushing it with brushes made from the 
roots of sacaton grass. With the children, it is cut so 
that it may grow strong, and the cut hair is twisted into 
a cord which Is used in tying together parts of the bur- 
den basket as well as in the tying of the saddle-bag. 
Formerly the custom was to leave the children's hair 
long on top of the head, back of the neck, and in front 
of each ear. I saw a left-handed man and a left-handed 
woman in the tribe. If it be permissible to draw any 
general conclusions from the sound sleep of my com- 
panion, Pablo, these natives sleep unusually soundly. 
One morning, while he was with me, he woke up several 
yards below his bedding, having rolled down a declivity 
during the night in his sleep. The Papago avoid eating 
food hot from the fire. 

They possess much force and stability of character, 
are quick of perception, loyal to the white man that 
they like, and If in danger do not cry for help. Under 
her natural bashfulness the woman hides sterhng quali- 
ties of efficiency In household work, constancy, and faith- 
ful adherence to duty. These Indians are Industrious 
and have a remarkably even temper; thirty children 



346 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

may be seen playing harmoniously together, where a 
similar gathering of small Caucasians would soon result 
in discord, fights, and tears. The children and young 
girls have three kinds of chewing gum; the one which is 
most commonly used has been mentioned already, an- 
other is procured from the pod of a vine which comes 
early and dries in July; by squeezing the pod a milk is 
secured which when boiled yields a gummy substance. 
These natives never shake hands; they come and go and 
are never obtrusive. In the circumstances under which 
I travelled, I liked that custom; it made me feel inde- 
pendent and equally polite. When an Indian comes to 
shake hands with me, I know he has changed his mode 
of life, for one may be sure that he learned that cus- 
tom from Americans or Mexicans. Their language is 
not sonorous, as it is full of guttural sounds and half- 
pronounced syllables. Four is their sacred number. 

In the autumn of 1909 there was a mild epidemic of 
an eye disease among the Papagoes of Sonora as far 
west as La Nariz. The eyes were red and inflamed, as 
in conjunctivitis, and the pain evidently was very great. 
They probably contracted this disease from the Mexicans. 

In his changed habits of life, inhabiting houses that 
do not admit air and adopting clothes that debilitate his 
magnificent physique, the Papago, when he catches cold, 
is unable to throw it off in the same way that a white 
man does. It very often develops into pneumonia and 
consumption, which awful disease is the scourge of the 
tribe, nine out of ten deaths being due to tuberculosis. 
The children bring it from school and even old people 



TOO SUDDEN A TRANSITION 347 

die from it, having acquired it through contagion. 
Although in no way a prison as to its restrictions, 
nevertheless the school as at present conducted does 
them harm physically. The confinement to which they 
have not been accustomed seems to undermine their 
health. In these days of advanced methods of teach- 
ing some remedy for this condition no doubt will be 
found. One absolutely necessary change is to alter the 
construction of the school-houses so as to make them 
sanitary through unlimited access of air. Even the 
Presbyterian Mission, which has been of considerable 
benefit to the Indian, has erected outside of Tucson 
incredibly inappropriate buildings, made of brick and 
substantial, to be sure, but singularly out of place in the 
glare and heat of the Arizona desert. Prof. R. H. 
Forbes, of Arizona University, told me that in the White 
Mountain Apache school, at White River, ninety per 
cent of the children have tuberculosis, chiefly glandular. 
This statement was made to him by the physician in 
charge. Would it not be better to leave the Indians un- 
educated than to proceed in this manner .? 

Not long ago the makai (medicine-men) had as many 
as five wives each, while the usual number for the ordi- 
nary man was two. At present it is very rare to find a 
Papago with more than one wife, and the average num- 
ber of children in a family is usually no less than eight, 
but the mortality among infants is great. The position 
of woman is equality with man. To be sure, the man 
never carries burdens — that is relegated to the woman's 
domain — but she is the mistress of the house. She is, 



348 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

in fact, the "boss" of the household and gives her hus- 
band as well as her child his portion of food. She is 
systematic, while the man, in whom the characteristics 
of the hunter still survive, has little or no order. Her 
vigilant eyes look after everything and she is consulted 
in all transactions. The dogs follow the woman and be- 
long to her, the husband rarely speaking to them. 

Sometimes a young man will marry a woman more 
than old enough to be his mother since, under the 
changed conditions of the tribe, many of the young fel- 
lows do not know how to take care of themselves. He 
may work for an elderly woman who owns cattle and 
behave so much to her satisfaction that marriage results, 
and women have in this way been known to make manly 
men out of flippant youngsters. The children are treated 
kindly by the parents and are kind to each other. 

Formerly a bamboo flute was played by a young 
man, especially in the evening, to attract the attention 
of a girl, though the ultimate choice of a partner rested 
with his father and mother. Up to recent times the 
sons were obedient to their parents and readily con- 
sented to marry the girls picked out for them. A son 
was instructed how to behave in order to find favor with 
a nice girl with whom appearances weigh little compared 
to the noble qualities of being a good hunter, not lazy, 
and an efficient agriculturist. It is the girl's father who 
makes the first advances in a matrimonial venture. He 
talks the matter over with the father of the boy who, 
however, sometimes may decline. But if the father is 
able to say that his son is willing, the latter betakes him- 



CHOOSING A WIFE 



349 



self to the girl's house and stays there four nights. Her 
mother then takes her to the bridegroom's home and 
leaves her there. No services of the medlclne-man are 
necessary; if they mutually agree to live as husband and 



PIMA SONG 



USED WHEN THE YOXING GIRLS COME OF AGE 



fcE 



^^ 



I 1-^ 



Oi - no - pd - ne 

Name of a mountain, usually called Oinopat, 
nearTempe, Arizona 



no-no - Vang - a 

mountains 
fpoetical designation; in prose: tud,k) 



Hon - yo - 1:1 - mo 

(in prose: hodyoli) 
alone 



kuk 



-8*- 

i 



va 



stands 



kon - ge - td - mo 

(in prose: k(5getam) 

end 




1-^ 

VO 

hill 



:1: 



ki 



=1: 



m m 

tam - haing - a 
(in prose: tamhaing) 
top 



-a- -0- 

of - vi 

woman 



Shas 



:!= 



^- 



nju - ke-nam kdi - nju - na 

(in prose: njuketam) (in prose: kaitsh) 
talk (or sing) (seems) 



=]: 



i 



hi - mo kvi - mo 

(no expressible meaning) 



This song may still be heard among the Papago, e. g., at Anekam rancheria 
in Santa Rosa valley, but it originated from the Pima. 



wife, they remain In the house of the young man's father 
until the latter's death. The son may make a house for 
himself near by, but he helps his father In his work. If 
the girl does not like the boy, she may walk back to her 
parents. Conferences between the fathers will then ensue 
to try to adjust matters and, until recently, sometimes the 



350 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

father of the girl would decide to whip her with a rope 
of rawhide to bring her to the proper way of thinking. 

Certain periods of female life are looked upon with 
awe, even by the civilized Papago. If a hunter touches 
a woman at these times he will have bad luck or con- 
tract some disease. Formerly a girl in this condition 
could not touch her hair. If she wanted to scratch her- 
self, it would have to be done with a stick, and even her 
brother could not touch his hair. When the girls come 
of age, dancing and singing are kept up for many nights 
in succession in a very fatiguing fashion, as neither rest 
nor food is taken. No intoxicating drinks are partaken 
of, and one marvels at the exertions that primitive man 
finds it necessary to undertake in order that the girl may 
be started right in life. Formerly these ceremonies, each 
time lasting four nights, had to be performed on four oc- 
casions, and even thus the girl has to go for a few days' 
seclusion to the hoholikaki, a house specially set apart 
for women considered temporarily impure. The dan- 
cing on such occasions consists of a forward and back- 
ward rhythmical movement of two rows of men and 
women facing each other and at the same time slowly 
moving in a circle. The participants hold each other 
by the hand, and the movements are in time with the 
singing, four steps forward and four backward. In Quito- 
vac where the Indians have been much influenced by 
the Mexicans, although they have given up the dancing 
part of the performances, the singing is kept up for eight 
nights or more in succession. 

When the woman feels that her hour Is approaching, 




Pima granary. IVIade from twisted 
arrow bush 




Hut for the isolation of women 





Papago: "Rainbow," from La Nariz 



THE NAME DAY 351 

she takes up her abode In the hohoHkaki where she re- 
mains for over three weeks. She bears her child ac- 
croupie assisted by her mother or elder sister; sometimes 
an elderly woman is specially chosen for this, acting as 
midwife. Formerly, for six days thereafter, the food was 
made for the mother and brought to her, the diet for 
the first two days consisting of atole bianco, a kind of 
thin gruel made of maize or sometimes wheat, mixed 
with the seeds of the sahuaro fruit. Now, in imitation 
of Mexican custom, the period is extended to twenty 
days. The husband during this time uses a different 
gourd from the rest of the family when he drinks water. 
Twenty days after the wife has returned from her 
seclusion the medicine-man comes to the house to give 
the baby clay to eat and present it with a name. The 
clay has the same name, pit, as that used in pottery 
making, and it does not look in anywise different. In 
the afternoon, after having mixed a small quantity with 
water and placed the mixture in a sea-shell on the ground, 
he takes up a position east of it, while the parents, with 
the infant, stand to the west. He walks four times 
toward them, the last time hooting low like an owl. 
The parents have to take the drink first, then the baby. 
If the child is male, the medicine-man gives it to the 
mother first; if it is female the father drinks first. In 
administering the drink to the child, he also gives it a 
name, which the grandparents previously have agreed 
upon; with his eagle plumes he makes passes over the 
infant, and with the same object sprinkles some of the 
water on its chest, shoulders, and back. The advan- 



352 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

tages which the child gains are supposed to be heahh, 
strength, and luck; untoward happenings are also pre- 
vented even to the family itself. If the birth occurred 
in the season of thunder-storms, the danger to the child, 
or a near relative, of being killed by lightning will be 
averted. For four days after the ceremony the parents 
abstain from eating salt and jack-rabbit meat, and they 
must not do much work; the father cannot hunt. 

The natural characteristic of the Papago Is to be vir- 
tuous. According to Indian reports, a woman caught in 
adultery used to be punished with death. In recent times 
whipping has been the penalty and the custom of killing 
her animals still prevails. The tribe has been notably 
stable in racial qualities during centuries of contact with 
whites. Intermixture to-day rarely takes place except 
in Sonora, where the Mexicans have taught the Indians 
new customs. In the out-of-the-way places of southern 
Arizona a few Americans are known to have Papago 
wives; they have children and to all appearances are 
known to lead happy lives, for the lady of the house is in- 
telligent, quite good-looking, clean, and very industrious. 
During my stay at Sonolta several couples came to be 
married by the civil authority there. 

Murder was left to the family of the murdered person 
to punish. From an American who speaks their lan- 
guage and lives in the central part of the Papagueria, I 
received what I must accept as reliable information with 
regard to unnatural vice, which perhaps may be more or 
less restricted to that locality. Several startling instances 
were told me by him and also by a trustworthy Indian 



BASKETRY 353 

who was present. Even a married man with full-grown 
daughters was subject to this depravity. One young 
Indian wanted to dress like a woman, but was prevented 
by his father. A Pima Indian, after losing his wife, had 
a healthy child by his daughter. 

In regard to the industries of the tribe, attention has 
already been called to pottery making. Weaving was 
formerly practised on a loom lying on the ground, but 
the art is now lost. The Papagoes, as well as the Pimas, 
are somewhat noted for their basket work, though neither 
of them is as clever as the Apache in this respect. They 
make trays and bowl-shaped ware for household work 
and also some large, deep, water-tight baskets which, from 
their principal use, may be termed sahuaro baskets. In 
these is gathered the juicy fruit of the sahuaro; the sirup 
and water are mixed for wine making and the wine itself 
is offered at the festival. They are rare at the present 
time. Women are the basket makers and in the best 
ware the white material used is produced from strips of 
young willow shoots, while the pods of the martynia 
(devil's claw), split in two, furnish the black part of the 
texture. The good workmanship of old is falling into 
decline, and the significance of the decorative designs is 
almost entirely forgotten. There is only one woman at 
the present time who is able to do first-class basket work, 
and she cannot tell what the designs mean. In Sonora 
the making of basketry has ceased to exist. 

Granary baskets are still in common use in the Santa 
Rosa valley. The large ones are made inside of the house, 
the small door-opening preventing their removal. The 



354 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

material of which they are made was formerly a certain 
grass, which may still be used, though generally wheat 
straw takes its place. Strips of mezquite bark are em- 
ployed in the binding. The granary basket has a flat 
cover, made in the same way, which is sealed with mud. 
Sometimes it is plastered throughout with mud as a pro- 
tection against rats. 

The pleasing designs seen in the old baskets are rapidly 
disappearing on account of the deplorable lack of aesthetic 
sense among those who are eager to buy Papago baskets. 
The makers are actually encouraged to insert crude repre- 
sentations of men and beasts in preference to the former 
beautiful conventionalized designs which the innate ar- 
tistic sense of the Indian had evolved. The trader also 
teaches the Papago to make the baskets quickly and 
cheaply, in order that more money can be made in the 
market from ignorant buyers. A society for the preser- 
vation of aboriginal American art is of urgent need and 
should be attempted even at this late day. 

It is difficult to ascertain anything about the origin 
or early history of the tribe, beyond the traditions that the 
people when returning from across the sea left ceremonial 
sticks at Caborca, Quitovaquita, and Santa Rosa. 

The tribe is divided into five groups, descent being in 
the male line. Their names have lost all meaning; two 
of the groups {mam and vav) are known as red-velvet ants 
{voki ohimaT) and three {okul, apap, and apki) as white- 
velvet ants {^toa ohimaT).^ Any animal that has red about 

* The so-called velvet ants are females of certain wasps (of the family mutil- 
lidae). 





a. Dog tracks 



d. Sahuaro 





e. Juice falling from the sahuaro 
fruit; arrow points 





c. Martynia /. Meaning unknown 

Designs of Papago baskets 



PRIMITIVE DIVISIONS 355 

It belongs to the red people. Members of salt expeditions 
formerly painted on their faces the color of the division 
to which they belonged. The red people were, according 
to mythical tradition, the original owners of the country, 
but Elder Brother, Sthu, having been Ill-treated by them, 
brought the white people from the underworld and after 
many big fights the red ones were almost exterminated, 
and even to this day they are fewer than the white groups. 
Much in the minority are those families whose children 
address their father as mamekam or vavekam. The rarest 
of the groups is vav, and the most common, apki. The 
mounds are attributed to the red people. 

The rancherias appear to have a division of their own, 
that part of the Papagueria which is comprised within 
Arizona being divided Into four provinces. Probably the 
present District of Altar is included In one of them. 
These subdivisions are: 

I. Anekam (name derived from a leguminous tree, 
an) consists of the rancherias Anekam, Kukomalik, and 
Tjuupo; in other words, the upper part of Santa Rosa 
valley as far north as the Kohatk people, who are 
PImas. 

II. Hohola (meaning of the word unknown) is the 
north-western part of the Papagueria. These people 
extend west of the Quijotoa range as far as Gila Bend, 
Including Aktjin rancheria, four or five miles south of the 
modern Maricopa railroad station. Their original start- 
ing point is said to have been Cacate rancheria and In- 
cludes such rancherias as Pozos Muchos, Sauceda, Pozo 
Blanco, and Barajita. 



356 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

III. Totokvan. (''Those who wear loose breech 
cloths." Tokvan, something loose. The designation 
alludes to the habit of the people of this section of using 
long or loose loin cloths or breech cloths, different from 
those worn by the other groups. They are at present 
more frequently called by the nickname kikima, smart 
ones.) This section comprises most of the Santa Rosa 
valley, the Comobabi range, and extends east as far as 
San Xavier, which place was settled mainly by people 
from Santa Rosa. This is, roughly speaking, the north- 
eastern part of the Papagueria. 

IV. Kokeloroti (Indian rendering of the Mexican 
Tccoloteros; from tecolote, owl). Their original name is 
Tjukutkokam Kikam, "owl's cry inhabitants." Tju- 
kutkoy owl's cry; tjukut, owl, and ko, cry; kikam^ in- 
habitant, derived from ki, house. These people are said 
to have started originally from the rancheria Tecolote, in 
Papago Tjukutko, and extend from Indian Oasis south- 
ward, comprising such rancherias as Fresnal, Koxikux, 
Tecolote, Sepanovak, and Pozo Verde. This section is 
approximately the south-eastern part of the Arizona 
Papagueria, and, according to the information of a Pa- 
pago otherwise trustworthy, also includes the Mexican 
Papagoes. 

Although the Papago, as we have seen, have elaborate 
dancing festivals, their religion is not regulated by ex- 
terior observances to such an extent as is the case with 
many other Indian tribes, as, for instance, that of the 
Pueblo Indians, or of the Huichols of Mexico, whose 
whole life is ruled by ceremonies and symbols. Many 



CREATION MYTHS 357 

still pray to the sun, which they call father. The deities 
most mentioned are Elder Brother and Earth Magician. 
The first of these is known under two names, litoi, which 
means "to drink it all," and Sihu, which was given him 
after the deluge, when he was the first to land. He 
helped Earth Magician at the beginning of time to 
bring order out of chaos, and may thus be termed the 
creator jointly with him. He created deer and other ani- 
mals as well as the trees that bear fruit, making strong 
roots to hold the trees. He was a great singer. As we 
have seen, Baboquivari peak and Pinacate belonged to 
him, and here sacred caves, in which he was supposed to 
dwell, were devoted to his worship. 

In their creation myths there are divergencies, as may 
be expected. One version begins: 

"In the beginning was Sky and Earth. Sky came 
down and embraced the Earth." 

Another is rendered thus: 

"In the beginning the world was all darkness and 
all the time everything was moving around. In that 
time there was born a child Tjivurt makai. Earth Magi- 
cian, and he began to consider what to do to make the 
world quiet. He took up some earth, mixed it with 
water, and made a round flat cake which he put down 
on the world to calm it, but it was of no avail, for the 
earth kept on moving around. He tried to steady it, 
moving it back and forth, and in doing so he separated 
the earth and the sky. A noise was heard and another 
child was born, who was litoi. He came to Earth Magi- 
cian who asked him where he was born. * Earth is my 



358 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

mother and Sky is my father/ litoi answered. 'Help 
me to put the world in order,' Earth Magician asked 
him. litoi consented to this. They made the sun, the 
moon, and the stars, and then in their light they set to 
work. Earth Magician took two small beads of per- 
spiration, which he changed into two spiders which 
walked around the world four times, tying the earth 
and the sky together at the edges. 

"Then the two magicians made people out of earth 
and water, but they turned out to be bad and fought and 
killed each other. The makers turned the world over 
and made new people, who also killed each other. Four 
times in that way they made and unmade their work. 
'There is something bad in the world,' they said. Earth 
Magician went around making holes with his stick. 
Blood came up and washed the earth, and they created 
new people. But Earth Magician's people were queer 
— some with one leg, others with big ears. litoi be- 
came angry over this and disowned them. Earth Ma- 
gician also was angry and went to the underworld and 
stayed there. litoi remained here among his people 
singing, but they did not like him and killed him on 
four occasions, and each time he would be walking about 
again the next day." 

Characteristic of their social life are two kinds of 
races, eight different games for men and three games 
for women. The games still flourish but the races are 
on the point of disappearing. The most important of 
the latter is a foot-race, run by two men, in which a ball 
usually made from mezquite wood is kicked along by 



FOOT-RACES 359 

each contestant. The ball must not be touched by the 
hand. One or two men on horseback assist the racers 
in finding the balls and give them new ones in case 
their own break or accidentally are lost. The last great 
race of which I heard was given, eighteen years ago, 
east of the Quijotoa Range. According to a Mexican 
from Quitovac who was present, the Indians had brought 
herds of cattle, mules and horses, clothing and money, 
all to serve as betting stakes on the occasion. Fifty odd 
Indians kept admirable order. The two runners, who 
were nude but for a cloth around the loins and with a 
bandanna tied around the head, started northward early 
in the afternoon in the direction of Santa Rosa rancheria. 
They ran seventeen or eighteen miles before turning back. 
One of the runners became tired, which finished the race; 
then the assistants picked them up, giving each of them, 
in Mexican fashion, a seat behind the saddles of their 
horses, and in that way they returned to the starting point 
after dark. The winner was about thirty years old; the 
other, about fifty, had some gray hair. If my informant 
was correct, thousands of dollars were lost in bets. The 
Barajita rancheria alone came out two hundred animals 
short, and the Pozo Verde loss was no less. Many of 
those who lost had staked all their live-stock and the 
women wept. A race of less importance took place in 
the same region some seven years ago. 

The Papago, as well as the Pima, was able to cope 
with the fierce Apaches more efficiently than were the 
Spaniards and Mexicans. The young men were trained 
from childhood for future combats with the enemy. It 



36o NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

must not be forgotten what a part the supernatural plays 
in the Indian's Hfe; cure for disease Is sought less in 
remedies than in magic devices, and combat with an 
enemy means first of all a fight of magic with magic. 
Once, as one of their tales goes, an Apache was com- 
pletely surrounded, but the Papagoes feared to attack 
him until one of them stepped forward carrying his 
shield with its symbolic inscriptions and supposed magic 
effect. The Apache fired his rifle at him, but missed 
his aim because he was overcome by the shield's magic 
power, which even split his thumb, so that he could not 
fire straight This was ascertained by the Papagoes 
when examining the body of the Apache afterward. 
Nevertheless, the education of the boy included as a 
matter of course ability to handle arms and the mastery 
of all that pertained to making a good warrior. In the 
nightly meetings at the council house, he was taught, be- 
sides, how to practise for the races and how to hunt. A 
considerable amount of sane advice would be imparted to 
the young man, and I cannot refrain from quoting here 
the late Mr. Frank Russell in his recent memoir* on the 
Pima Indians, from whom the Papago segregated long 
ago. He describes the exhortations of a Pima father to 
his son in the following manner: "If you are wounded 
in battle, don't make a great outcry about it like a child. 
Pull out the arrow and slip away; or. If hard stricken, 
die with a silent throat. Go on the war trail with a 
small blanket. It is light and protection enough for 

* Twenty-sixth Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology, 
Washington. 



ARCH ENEMIES OF THE PAPAGO 361 

one aided by the magicians. Inure yourself to the cold 
while yet a boy. Fight not at all with your comrades; 
preserve your strength for the combat with the Apaches; 
then, if brave, will come to you high honor. Be unself- 
ish or you will not be welcome at the fire of the friendly; 
the selfish man Is lonely and his untended fire dies. 
Keep your peace when a foolish man addresses the 
people. Join not In his imprudent counsellings. Above 
all, talk not foolishly yourself. Bathe in the cold water 
of the early morning, that you may be prepared for the 
purification ceremony after kilHng an enemy!" 

When an Apache campaign was decided upon, there 
was much preparation for the fray, and the feasts and 
ceremonies connected with the return of a victorious 
party were among the most elaborate, foot-races and 
gambling forming a part. If the Apaches killed some 
of the Papagoes, the former were believed to take the 
clouds away, so the Papagoes had to go and kill some 
of them in order to bring the clouds back. Sometimes 
the Apaches would be discovered In a week, and some- 
times a whole month would pass before the encounter. 
The provisions consisted of pinole; bows and arrows, 
lances and clubs were the weapons, and almost every one 
of the party had a shield. The Apaches have been 
credited with a superstition about fighting at night, and 
the Pimas at least are said to have used this disinclina- 
tion to their advantage. On returning, those who had 
killed Apaches had to stay away from their houses and 
bathe early in the morning before sunrise four times at 
intervals of four days. One man was appointed to pro- 



362 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

vide them with water and food, of which they partook 
sparingly. Meat and salt were forbidden. He would 
come by night and they would smoke tobacco together. 
The first night was spent in dancing. After sixteen 
days' seclusion in this manner, the feast would come off, 
but the dieting and abstention on the part of the slayers 
lasted sixteen days more. If a man had killed an Apache 
before, he did not need to go so far away from the house 
or be so rigorous in his diet as the inexperienced young 
man. 

Sham battles used to be a prominent feature in the 
social life of the Papago. The last one was given five 
years previous to my visit to Anekam in the Santa Rosa 
valley and there was some talk of having one again in 
the near future. In these sham battles dummies of 
straw are placed in the mountains, sometimes at a dis- 
tance of a two days' excursion. In the evenings before 
the attack the men sit for a while in a large circle, their 
weapons lying in the centre, but they soon disperse 
around the different fires to sleep, while some of them 
watch. Somebody goes ahead and makes a big fire 
near the dummies, and the attack begins at dawn. Four 
men have been chosen to kill the dummies, only one, 
who leads, carrying a shield; they all have feathers at- 
tached to their hats or to specially made leather caps. 

On their return there is dancing for four nights and 
singing; the dancing is similar to that of the sahuaro 
feast. Some of the men, who are well paid by general 
contributions, play the part of those who kill Apaches, 
imitating their actions; one of them carries a shield and 



PASSING OF THE OLD 363 

the rest have ordinary weapons. The four who killed 
the dummies keep away from the dancing place until 
the last night. They fast, and must not drink water. 
Pits are made in the ground, a hundred yards or more 
away, which are a foot deep and wide enough to hold 
a man sitting with legs crossed. Here the four warriors 
have to sit immovable during the whole night, holding 
the scalps of the supposed Apaches, and care being taken 
that they do not face either the sun or the moon. Special 
songs are sung for these men. One man looks, after 
them, and they are under so much restriction that they 
cannot scratch their heads or any part of their body 
with their hands, but have to apply a small greasewood 
twig if the necessity arises. Their wives, who also fast, 
sit in pits behind their husbands. After the dance is 
over the four men still have to keep up the taboo and 
dieting four days longer; then they bathe, and when 
they go to sleep many songs come to them in their 
dreams. Among the Pimas, when the warrior had killed 
an Apache, his wife made a tray, with a large svastika 
design interwoven. 

The primitive condition of Papago society is giving 
way to the new, but not without a jar. In old times in the 
house of a prominent man, with his four or five wives, 
no quarrels would arise. When his household was in- 
creased by the additional families of his sons who, accord- 
ing to ancient custom, made their homes with him, the 
serene atmosphere continued; there was no question of 
mother-in-law, or other disturbing factors, in their nicely 
adjusted relations. The families were large and peace 



364 NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO 

and harmony reigned, but now all that is changing. The 
Indian who has to work for his Hving finds it hard to make 
ends meet, and to support additional people becomes im- 
possible, hence quarrels and unpleasant conditions begin 
to manifest themselves. 

Formerly they lived in large rancherias, but in the last 
twenty years the tendency has been to scatter. They 
have been touched by commercialism and are now show- 
ing energy in acquiring cattle and other property. For- 
merly, too, a family owned a couple of cows and a horse or 
sometimes they had no animals, but during the last twenty 
years the tribe has acquired a considerable number of 
live-stock, often twenty cows and from ten to twelve horses 
to a family. Four or five families are the individual pos- 
sessors of a few hundred head of cattle, but there is no 
difference in their mode of life from that of the rest. 

The women are clever in adapting themselves to the 
new conditions. I know of an instance where the wife 
made a shirt for her husband without ever having learned 
how to cut it out, and the garment, when finished, was 
very creditably done. What the girls desire most to ac- 
quire at school is the knowledge of music and dress- 
making. Some of them have learned at the Presbyterian 
schools to play the piano, which redounds much to the 
credit of the schools. To develop man's sense for har- 
mony and the beautiful, whether by music or other re- 
fining pursuits, is as important as to teach him to read 
and write. 

The Papagoes recognize the white man's superiority 
and have begun to make money an aim in life, which may 



CIVILIZING THE INDIANS 365 

be the necessary step for their further advancement. 
They have adopted civihzed man's mode of dressing, his 
tools, vessels, and implements, sewing-machines, and even 
phonographs, bacon, bread, and coffee, and all the different 
brands of crackers and canned goods. Their ideas and 
manners are naturally changing. One prominent Papago 
complained to me that the women were gossiping now as 
white women do. These Indians still insist on speaking 
their own language, but they might just as well give it up, 
as they no longer preserve their traditions and ancient 
customs. The future augurs well for the Papago as long 
as the government's wise prohibition against the sale of 
alcohol continues to be rigidly enforced. There is no 
trouble in civilizing the Indians by education, but a great 
step in the right direction would be to civilize the rough 
whites first. 



APPENDICES 



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APPENDIX II 

RANCHERIAS, PRESENT AND PAST, OF THE PAPAGO 

WITH INTERPRETATIONS OF THEIR NATIVE NAMES 

I HAVE found it convenient to treat Arizona and Sonora separately. 
The division into winter and summer rancherias has been maintained, 
although it is sometimes difficult to make a strict distinction. Instead 
of winter rancheria I use only the word "rancheria," which comprises 
in the list, as indeed also in actuality, especially the winter habitations, 
including also at times permanent abodes. 

The words "summer rancheria" designate the temporary habita- 
tions resorted to for the purpose of agriculture during the capricious 
showers of the summer. The Indian name for summer rancheria is 
ooitak, field for cultivation (milpa). The common Mexican expression 
for this kind of ranch, both in Sonora and southern Arizona, is tem- 
porales, which means ranches dependent for their water upon showers, 
a Spanish-Americanism, also used in Peru, (Bandelier.) Rancho de 
temporal: "ranch of rain-storm" is the name for a single ranch of this 
kind. "Winter rancheria," used in the above sense, is indicated by the 
letter r; "summer rancheria" by the letter s. 

The four Pima rancherias of the Kohatk people are given at the 
end of the Arizona division. At the end of the Sonora division will be 
found the names of the principal camps of the sand Papagoes iarenenos). 

I. — Arizona 

Aaivdnam, Rancheria. "Both Sides Hat." (y^az, both sides; vdnam, 
hat.) A mountain there looks hke a hat, seen from either of two 
sides. South-west of Santa Rosa, s, in the Quijotoa Range, near 
Brown ell. 

Aktjin, Summer Rancheria. "Arroyo Mouth." {Ak\ arroyo; tjiiiy 
mouth.) Two and one-half miles south o( Makumivooka, r. 

377 



378 APPENDIX II 

Aktjin, Rancheria. Three or four miles south of Maricopa railroad 
station. 

Alitjukson, Summer Rancheria. "Little Tucson" or, more correctly, 
"At the foot of {shot! or son) small {dli) black {tjuk) hill." Three 
miles from Artesa Range, on the north side of the road between 
Indian Oasis and Fresnal, r. 

Aloitak, Summer Rancheria. "Little Field." {Ali, small, child; ditak, 
field, milpa.) Two miles south-east of Santa Rosa, s. 

Anckam, Summer Rancheria. "Where the an tree grows." (An, a 
slender tree, belonging to the leguminosce. It has long leaves and 
pink flowers; may possibly be the desert willow.) Half of the 
people are from Tjiiupo, r., in the north-west. 

Aquitmiri, Rancheria. In Papago, Akimuri ("River," "Arroyo"). 
East of La Nariz, r., Sonora, Mexico, three miles inside of the 
boundary line. Three or four families live here. There is a pond 
here. 

5ara/V/a, Rancheria. In Papago, T'ond^a (" Knee"). Situated on the 
east side of the Ajo Range, five miles from the northern point, near 
the range. 

Bates's Well, also called Growler Well or El Veit. In Papago, Tjuni- 
kdatk ("Where there is sahuaro fruit." Tjilni, sahuaro fruit). 
Twenty miles (seven leagues) north of Quitovaquita, r. Some of 
the former sand people live here. At present this is a mine and 
store, a few Americans residing. Good well. 

"Bitter Well," Rancheria. In Papago Stvydxia. (Siv, bitter; vdxia, 
well, waterhole, also spring.) Two miles east of the Vekol mine. 
Four to five families are said to Hve here. 

Brownell, mine, store and post-office in the Quijotoa Range, eighty 
miles west of Tucson. {See Aaivonam.) 

Cacate, Summer Rancheria. In Papago, Kdka ("Clearing"). South- 
east of Gila Bend and west of Vekol mountains, about thirty-five 
miles west of Kohatk (Pima). The population, according to in- 
formation given me by Mr. T. Childs, of Batamote, is about two 
hundred, old and young, and is much mixed. 

Cajilon, Rancheria. In Papago, Aakta ("Horn lying." Aak, horn). 
Fifteen miles south of the Vekol mine. This is an old rancheria, now 
probably abandoned, the former inhabitants living in Cacate, r. 



APPENDIX II 379 

Charco de la Piedra, Temporales. In Papago, Hotashbnevo (Pond at 
the base of the rock." Hota, stone, rock; short or son, base, at the 
foot of; vo, pond). Twenty to twenty-five miles west of Pozo 
Blanco, r. Indians come here from Pozo Redondo, r. 

Comobdbi, Rancheria. In Papago, Komvdxia ("Well where the kom 
tree grows." Kom, tree with red berries, called cumaro in Spanish; 
vdxia, well (Spanish, pozo), or a hole dug in the sandy bed of an 
arroyo to reach water, also spring. If it were the tree's well, 
then it would be called Komvdxiak). In the Comobabi mountains, 
seven miles distant from Kavvaxiak. 

Covered Well or Pozo Tapado, Rancheria. In Papago, Maish^vaxia 
(maish^, to cover; vdxia, well, waterhole, also spring). Fifteen 
miles west of Indian Oasis; one and one-half miles west of 
Tjiuvak, r. Inhabited by ten or twelve families. 

Coyote, Rancheria. In Papago, Pantak ("Where the coyote is." Pan, 
coyote). In the northern part of Baboquivari Range. Situated 
two miles south of the road when at two miles' distance from 
Maishe's Well. 

Cubo, Temporales. In Papago, Kuvo ("Big Pond." Ku, large, big; 
vo, pond). It is five miles south-east of Barajita, r., twenty to 
twenty-five miles south of Ajo copper mine, and about the same 
distance north-west of La Nariz, r., Sonora, Mexico. This is a 
large summer rancheria on the llano. Indians come here up to 
the number of one hundred and fifty souls from the rancherias 
Sauceda, Cacate, an^ Barajita, and from Gila Bend, to cultivate 
the soil. 

El Mezquite, Rancheria. In Papago, Vdtjeki ("Small Waterhole." 
The hole was made and water gathered by digging with a basket). 
North of La Nariz, r., Sonora, Mexico, nine miles (three leagues) 
from the boundary line, in a basin near Mezquite Range. Very 
old, probably now abandoned. 

Fresnal, Rancheria. It consists of three rancherias in the western and 
middle part of Baboquivari Range. 

1. Kdxikux (Kdxi, mulberry tree; kux, where it stands) is the 

most northern. 

2. yj-Zzn/Z/j^/^ ("Willow Forest." Tshiuli, willow; seik, {orest). 

One mile south of Koxikux. 



380 APPENDIX II 

3. Pitdikam ("Where there are ash trees." Pttoi, ash tree). 
Three miles south-west of Tshiitltseik. This latter ran- 
cheria is the largest of them. Probably there are no less 
than five hundred souls in the three rancherias. Nos. 
I and 2 are situated one and one-half miles in among the 
foot-hills, about four thousand two hundred feet above sea 
level; No. 3 is at the beginning of the llano. 

Giikivok, Summer Rancheria. "Where the plough was lying." (Giik 
(also kitk), plough; vok, lying.) South of Indian Oasis. 

Horseshoe, Placer gold mine, store, and post-office. In Papago, 
Komaktjivurt ("Gray Soil." Kdmak, gray; tjivurt, soil. The 
name alludes to the presence of caliche). In the Ouijotoa Range. 
The gold digging itself was formerly alluded to as dlak, "Where 
there is gold" (oro). At present only the Indians occasionally dig 
for gold. 

Indian Oasis, store and post-office, seventy miles west south-west of 
Tucson. {See Kdmoktetuvdvosit.) 

James' Ranch, Rancheria. In Papago, Vavstjuutak ("Green Rock." 
Vav, rock; stjiiutak, green). In the Artesa mountains, a couple 
of miles south of Indian Oasis. 

Jiquibo, also called Pirigua, Summer Rancheria. "Where there is a 
rough mountain." (In Papago, Hikibon or Hikpvan. Hik, 
rough, ridged. Hair that has been cut short is also said to be hik.) 
Situated on a llano in a kind of basin, north-east of Ajo copper 
mine. There are several waterholes or wells here, and the Ind- 
ians are said to use the water for irrigating purposes. 

Kditjimdk, Summer Rancheria. "Burnt Sahuaro Seed." {Kaitj, seed 
of the sahuaro fruit; mo^, burn.) Another name for Santa Rosa, j. 

Kakota, Rancheria. "Crooked." It is on the south-west side of the 
Quijotoa Range, eight miles south of Horseshoe. Indians settled 
here, falling heir to a well that some Mexicans abandoned when 
the placer mining of the place gave out. 

Kdvolik, Summer Rancheria. "Hill." Six or seven miles south of 
Kuditak. 

Kavvdxiak, Rancheria. "Badger's Well." (Kav, badger; vdxia. See 
under Comobabi.) In the Comobabi mountains, about six miles 
north-east of Noria, r. 



APPENDIX II 381 

Kdipatvdoka, Summer Rancheria. "Dead Old Man's Pond." {Koli, 
old man; pat, dead, something of the past; vo, pond.) Fifteen 
miles north-east of Horseshoe. 

Kdmalik, Summer Rancheria, "Mountain Crest." Name is derived 
from a low ridge north of the place. Ten miles south-west of 
Fresnal, r. It has a pond. 

Kdmoktetuvdvosit, Rancheria. "Where the turtle was caught." 
(Kdmoktet, turtle.) It is a mile from Indian Oasis and was estab- 
lished five years ago- 

Kukomalik, Rancheria. "Big mountain crest." {Ku, large, big; 
kdmalik, mountain crest.) Fourteen miles north oi Anekam. It 
Is twenty-five to thirty miles west to south of Silver Bell. The 
village is inhabited all the year on account of a well left by an 
American. Its fields are insignificant. The inhabitants go to 
Anekarn for religious ceremonies. 

Kuditak, Summer Rancheria. "Large Fields." (Ku, large; ditak, 
field, milpa.) Thirteen miles south of the "Pumphouse." 

Kutjuupo, Rancheria. "Big waterhole in the rock." {Ku, big; tjuupo, 
rocky cavity containing water, natural water tank; Spanish, tinaja.) 
In the western foot-hills of Baboquivari Range, eight to ten miles 
north of Fresnal, r. 

Kvitatk, Summer Rancheria. "Mezquite Root." (Kvi, mezquite; 
tatk, root.) Thirteen miles north-west of Indian Oasis; one-half 
mile from the "Pumphouse." 

Z^'uwo, Rancheria. "Below," "Low Down." One and one-half miles 
north-east of Santa Rosa, s. 

La Lesna, Rancheria. In Papago, Shuundkia ("Hanging Wolf." 
Shuu, wolf; ndkia, hanging). Three miles from the boundary 
line, eleven miles (four leagues) north-west of Banori, r., Sonora, 
Mexico. 

La Moralita, Rancheria. Papago name unknown. It is ten or twelve 
miles north-east of La Nariz, r., in Sonora, Mexico. 

La Quituni, Summer Rancheria. In Papago, Aktjin ("Arroyo's 
Mouth." ^^, arroyo; f/'m, mouth). North-west of La Nariz, r., 
Sonora, Mexico, three miles from the boundary line. It used to 
be visited by Indians from Sonoita, but has been abandoned over 
ten years. 



382 APPENDIX II 

Los Camotes, Rancheria. In Papago, Shdatkam (Name of an edible 
root). Situated three miles west of the Mezquite Range, near the 
boundary line, northward of La Nariz, r., Sonora, Mexico. Two 
families live here, who go to Sonoita when the water gives out. 

Makiimivdoka, Rancheria. "Caterpillar Pond," (Mdkum, a yellow, 
black-striped caterpillar, boiled and eaten by the Papago. It ap- 
pears in August. A 0, pond.) It is nine miles south-east of ^"w-yo, 
r. (near Santa Rosa, s.) 

Mtlpitas, Summer Rancheria. In Papago, Kokiili ("Corral," "En- 
closure"). Twelve miles south-east of Pozos Muchos, r. (north- 
ern part of the Papagueria). 

Ndipokarn, Rancheria. The name is of Spanish origin, meaning un- 
known. It is north-west of Horseshoe, in the Ouijotoa Range, 
two miles from Brownell. 

Noria, Rancheria. In Papago, Ndolik (Corruption of the Mexican 
name which means "spring"). It used to be called in Papago, 
Vipenak ("Where vipenoi, a small cactus, is growing"). It is a 
short distance west north-west of Indian Oasis. This is an old 
village and it has more people now than before. 

Notovaxia, Rancheria. "Well where the sacaton grass grows." (Not, 
sacaton grass; vdxia, well, waterhole, also spring.) In the north- 
ern part of the Comobabi mountains. 

Ootovaxia, Rancheria. "Sand Well." (Oot, sand; vdxia, well.) In 
the northern part of the Comobabi mountains. 

Pelon or Rancheria del Pelon, Rancheria. Also called "Lower Vil- 
lage." In Papago, Kvivo ("Below," "Low Down," namely, on 
the river). It is in Gila Bend Papago Reservation, ten miles from 
Gila Bend railroad station. 

Pirigua, Summer Rancheria. {See Jiquibo.) 

Pisinemo, Summer Rancheria, In Papago, Pi(!memoi ("Bear's Head." 
Pi^i'n, brown bear; ?no, head.) It is fifteen miles north-west of 
the south end of the Quijotoa Range. 

Pozo Blanco, Rancheria. In Papago, Komvdxia ("Well where the kom 
tree (Spanish, comaru) grows"; wx/a, well, waterhole, also spring). 
Near the Quijotoa range, eight miles south-west of Brownell; four 
or five miles west of "Covered Well." It is forty miles from Pozo 
Redondo, r. Four or five families live here. 



APPENDIX II 383 

Pozo Colorado, Rancheria. In Papago, Fdkivdxta ("Red Well." 
Fok, red (usually sovok or suviZk); vdxia, well, waterhole, also 
spring). Near Pozos Muchos, r. It is a very old rancheria, in- 
habited by two to four families, 
Pozo de Federico, Rancheria. {See Wall's Well.) 

Pozo Redondo, Rancheria. In Papago, Sikorttjuupo ("Round Tank." 
Sikort (sikul), round; tjuupo, rocky cavity with water; in Spanish, 
tinaja). It is about twelve miles east of Ajo copper mine, on the 
east side of the Pozo Redondo Range. These Indians have fields 
in Cubo, s. 
Pozo Tapado, Rancheria. {See Covered Well.) 

"Pumphouse," Rancheria. About twenty years ago a mining com- 
pany made a deep well and a pump with a large chimney, eight 
miles south-east of Horseshoe, in the Quijotoa Range. The well 
was later abandoned. Some Indians established themselves here, 
and this small rancheria is now usually called Fdinomkux ("Iron 
prominence." Fdinom, iron; kux, standing, prominent). 
Pozos Muchos, Rancheria. In Papago, Molvdxia ("Many Wells." 
Mot, many; vdxia, well, waterhole, also spring). South south- 
east of Gila Bend, eight miles easterly of Sauceda, r. Eight to 
ten families live here. They have several waterholes or wells and 
are said to irrigate with this water. 
Quitovaquita, Rancheria. In Papago, Alivaipia ("Small Springs." 
All, small, child; vaipia is plural of vdxia, well, waterhole, spring). 
South of Ajo copper mine, just within United States boundary. 
This is a locality with many small springs of good water. It is 
permanently occupied by one or two families. Some agriculture. 
Rincon, Rancheria. Two miles north of Sepdnovak, r. 
Rincon, Rancheria. In north-eastern part of Baboqulvari Range. A 
large rancheria, belonging to a civilized Papago. Accordmg to 
my interpreter, Pablo, there are no other rancherlas on the eastern 
side of Baboqulvari Range. 
San Lorenzo, Rancheria. In Papago, Silinakik ("Hanging Saddle." 
Sili, saddle, a corruprion of the Spanish silla). Twelve miles east 
south-east of Makumivooka. ^ 

San Miguel, Summer Rancheria. Five miles south from Tjuulik, s. ; ten 
miles north of Monument 143 on the boundary line. Of recent date. 



384 APPENDIX II 

San PeJro, Rancherla. In Papago, Viopoli (a kind of tobacco). This 
is a new rancheiia in the Roskruge Range, seventeen miles' dis- 
tance north from Hayes's Well, thirty-six miles from Makumi- 
v6oka, r. 

Santa Rosa, Summer Rancheria. In Papago, Kudfshi ("Big Peak." 
Kit, large; dtsh'i, narrow mountain). The name is derived from a 
mountain near by, to the west. In Santa Rosa Valley. This is 
the largest summer rancheria, and is probably also to a certain 
extent inhabited in the winter. The fields extend nearly two miles 
in either direction. 

San Xavier del Bac. In Papago, Vdk, which means "where the river 
reappears in the sand," a "sink" of the river. 

Sauceda, Rancheria. In Papago, according to information from Mr. 
F. Wall, called Tshiulikami ("Where willow grows." Tshiuli, 
willow). South of Gila Bend railroad station and seventeen miles 
east north-east of Batamote ranch. This is the main rancheria of 
the north-western part of the Papagueria. I am informed by 
reliable authority that there are fifty to seventy houses here. In 
1910, on account of want of water for the cattle, only thirty to 
forty individuals lived here, 

Sepdnovak, Rancheria. "The smell of the coyote." (Pan, coyote.) 
Small rancheria in a narrow valley in the middle part of the Babo- 
quivari Range. 

SlUimok, also called "Upper Village," Rancheria. "Burnt Saddle" 
{Sili (Spanish, silla), saddle; m'dk, burn). In Gila Bend Papago 
Reservation, about eighteen miles north of Gila Bend. In 1910 
it had fourteen families, immigrated less than twenty years ago, 
from Sauceda, r. 

Sikulhimatk, Summer Rancheria. "Water going around." (Sikul, 
round.) Five miles north of the " Pumphouse," east of Horseshoe. 
The water-shed is here, between water flowing into the Gila River 
and to the Altar River. 

Silsuta, Rancheria. In Papago, Shdsetak ("Where water gathers"; 
shdiak, water.) Three leagues north-east of La Nariz, r., Sonora, 
Mexico. In the winter five or six families live here. The water 
lasts sometimes for a year. 



APPENDIX II 3^5 

Tecolote, Summer Rancheria. In Papago, Tjukutko ("Owl's Cry." 
Tjukut, owl; ko, cry). An old rancheria fifteen miles west south- 
west of Indian Oasis. 
Temporales, without name yet. Nineteen miles east of Makumivooka, r. 
Tesota, also called "Second Village," Rancheria. In Papago, Uupat- 
oitak ("Cat-claw Field." Uupat, the tree called cat-claw, in 
Spanish, tesota; ditak, field for planting, milpa). In the Gila 
Bend Papago Reservation, five and a half miles east of Pelon, r. 
It consisted in 1910 of eight families, immigrated from Pozos 
Muchos, r. 
TjeavoUtak, Summer Rancheria. "Where the barrel cactus is." 
{TjedvoJi, barrel cactus; in Spanish, bisnaga.) Two miles from 
an abandoned ranch called Fresnal, between Maishe's Well and 
Indian Oasis. 
Tjiuvak, Rancheria. "Where something rotted." Five miles north 

of Horseshoe. 
Tjotomvaxiaka, Rancheria. "Bear's Well." (Tjotom, bear; vdxia, 
well, waterhole, also spring.) In the Baboquivari Range, about 
eight miles south of Fresnal, r. 
TjuuJik, Summer Rancheria. "Corner." On th^ plains, south south- 
west of Fresnal, r., six miles south of Komalik, s. 
Tjiiupo, Rancheria. "Rock cavity with water." Name alludes to 
some cavity in the rock containing water, a natural tank; Spanish, 
tinaja. In the Quijotoa Range, perhaps ten miles north of 
Brown ell. 
Tdapit or ^Tdapit, Summer Rancheria. "White Clay." (Tda or 
^Tda, white; pit, clay.) Twelve miles north of Jiquibo, s. Seven 
or eight families come here. 
Topahua, Summer Rancheria. In Papago, Koksumok ("Burnt Dog." 

Koks, dog; mok, burn). Seven miles south of Indian Oasis. 
Tdtobitk, Summer Rancheria. " Crooked." Ten miles from Cacate, s. 
Tshiovo, Summer Rancheria. " Long Pond." {Tshi, long; vo, pond.) 

Eight miles south-west of the south end of Quijotoa Range. 
Tucson City. Originally a rancheria. In Papago, ^Tjukson ("At the 
foot of the black hill." ^Tjuk, black; son or shon, at the foot of). 
The name alludes to the hill nearest to the Santa Cruz River, and 
near that on which the Desert Botanical Laboratory is. 



386 APPENDIX II 

Vdmuli, Summer Rancheria. " Basin " (low place where water gathers). 
It is near Glikivok, r. 

Vdvemo, Rancheria. In Papago, "Mountain with Head." {Vav, 
mountain; mo, head.) The name alludes to a low ridge on top 
of which is a rock. Ten or twelve miles (four leagues) south of 
Indian Oasis. Many Indians here. 

Vdvkux, Rancheria. "Projecting Rock." {Vav, mountain, rock; kux, 
standing, prominent.) In the northern part of the Baboquivari 
range; three miles from Hayes's Well. 

Vopelohavdoka, Summer Rancheria. "Burro Pond." {Vdpelo, burro, 
donkey; vo, pond.) Ha has no special meaning; usually it 
means "there" or "what." Eight or nine miles south-west of 
Topahua, s. 

WalVs JVcll or Pozo dc Federico, Rancheria. In Papago, Kookatsh 
("mountain crest"). Sixteen miles east of Bates's Well, right 
at the northern point of Sierra del Ajo. There used to be some 
mining done here, which has been abandoned, a few Indians from 
Barajita afterward settling there and taking possession of the wells. 
Information from Mr. Frederick Wail, who discovered and named 
the Growler mine. 

PIMA RANCHERIAS 

South of Casa Grande railroad station, on the Southern Pacific, are 
found the following four Pima Rancherias, inhabited by the so-called 
Kohatk people. 

Kohdtk, Pima Rancheria. "Depression." (Literally: "Where a hol- 
low has been made" through water or other agency.) It is situ- 
ated due east of the Vekol mine, and nine miles north-west of 
Kukomalik, a Papago rancheria. Elevation, 2,500 feet. 

Tatajnumerikut, Pima Rancheria. "Where the foot had run." {Tat, 
foot; miimeri, run; kut,whtre.) It is four miles north of the Jack 
Rabbit mine, is very old, and foot-racing is said to have started 
here. Foot-races, accompanied by betting, are still practised, two 
or four men running together at one time. They have also races 
called luitshuta^ where a ball is tossed along, similar to those in use 
among the Tarahumares of Chihuahua, Mexico. 



APPENDIX II 387 

Tshilhutsho or Tjiiitjo, Pima Rancheria. "Caves." Name alludes to 
some natural cavities in the ground {tshuhu, cave) nine miles 
from. Casa Grande railroad station and from Vaivavo, r. 

Vaivavo, Pima Rancheria. "Cocklebur Pond." {Vdtva, cocklebur; 
vo, pond.) Twelve miles north of Kohdtk, r. 

II. — SoNORA, Mexico 

DISTRICT OF ALTAR 

Agiia Prieta, Rancheria. {See Pozo Prieto.) 

Akimuri, Rancheria. "The River." The present site of the Indian 
settlement of Sonoita, the Mexicans having occupied the lands 
where the Indians originally lived, and where the small Sonoita 
River sallies forth. It is about one mile down the river from the 
Mexican settlement and goes under the name of El Pueblo. Con- 
siderable wheat is cultivated by irrigating with water from the river, 
and the Indians, the number of whom varies according to season 
but generally may be seventy to eighty or more, are well-to-do. 
See Sonoita. 

Akitaivuni, Summer Rancheria. "Where the river begins." {Ak^, 
river, arroyo; vun, begin.) Situated six miles east of Sonoita, 
where there were several swamps before the river, some years ago, 
broke through the gravelly accumulations. Abandoned. 

Alamito, Mexican ranch, formerly Papago rancheria. In Papago, 
Vdipia ("Waterholes," "Springs"). Two miles north of the town 
of Trincheras. There is an old church here. Miguel, an old 
Indian of Quitovac, saw Indians living here seventy years ago. 

Alamo Muerto, Mexican ranches, formerly Papago rancheria. In 
Papago, Aupa ("Cottonwood Tree." Plural is aupa). Eight 
leagues west of Caborca and four leagues north-east of Pozo 
Moreneno, it is situated on the Altar River, on the llano; the 
ranches are about north of the Sierra del Alamo, which is near by, 
and three leagues west of Bisani. 

Altar. Town on the Altar River, formerly rancheria. In Papago, 
Fdvuk ("Where there is a mountain." Fav, mountain, or rocky 
place). Three families live in the outskirts, making a living by 
working for Mexicans. 



388 APPENDIX II 

Arivaipa, Mexican ranch, formerly Papago ranchcria. In Papago, 
Alivaipia ("Small Springs" or "Small Waterholes." Alt, small, 
child; vdipia is plural of vdxia, well, waterhole, spring). Eight 
miles south-east of Garambullo ranch. The Papagoes used to 
have fields here. The old men died and the young men went 
to Arizona. 

Arivaipa. Papago camp, abandoned; formerly of importance. It 
is about thirty-five miles east of Puerto de Libertad, fifteen miles 
from the coast. This marks the southern limit of the Papago 
tribes' extension. A reliable old Indian, Miguel of Quitovac, 
knov7s this place, of which Mr. M. Taylor, formerly superintendent 
of the Yaqui mine, gave me the following description: "A large 
mezquite tree is growing on the south side of the arroyo. Here the 
Papagoes from Pozos de San Ignacio used to camp before being 
dispossessed by the ruratcs. East of this tree, on the bank of the 
arroyo, is another mezquite overhanging the arroyo; one of the 
limbs has been cut off. Directly under that cut one should dig 
for water which will be found eight to ten feet deep in the sand; 
it stands in caliche, into which a two-foot deep hole has been 
made." According to the same informant, there is a Seri well, 
"Coyote," on the same arroyo, six miles from the coast. The 
main camp of the Seri Indians, perhaps now numbering two hun- 
dred in all, is said to be at no great distance from there. 

Arivaipa. This name also appears on the upper Gila River, near 
the San Carlos Reservation. Formerly the Apaches used to be there. 

Atil, Mexican Pueblo, formerly rancheria. In Papago, Atshi ("Narrow 
Mountain "). Six leagues from pueblo Oquitoa on the Altar River. 

Bajio de Evaristo, Summer Rancheria. In Papago, Hiashpik 
("Buried"). According to tradition, a beautiful Papago woman 
was buried here. It is situated in the fertile, long, broad valley 
leading west to Sonoita. About fifteen families live here. 

Banori, Rancheria. In Papago, Vdnolik ("Curve"). Seven miles east 
of Mexican rancheria Bajio del Alcalde, which hauls water from 
there. It is not far from the other Banori, both of them located 
near the boundary. 

Banori, Mexican ranch, formerly Papago rancheria. Two miles west of 
Cobota. It is probably the ranch which formerly was called Pozo 



APPENDIX II 389 

de Luis, Two Papago families keep animals there by permission 
of the Mexican owner, J. Celaya. 

Bisani, Hacienda. Formerly rancheria. In Papago, Viisin ("Small, 
deep arroyo"). Sixteen miles west south-west of Caborca. The 
extensive and fertile lands have been made into a Mexican hacienda 
for wheat raising. Fourteen or fifteen families live here who are 
dependent on the hacienda for work. Ruins of an old Jesuit 
church are existent. 

Caborca. Town on the Altar River, formerly rancheria. In Papago, 
Kdvortk ("Rounded Hill"). Seven families live in the outskirts, 
two of them possessing and cultivating milpas (garden fields), the 
rest being laborers for Mexicans. 

Cacate, Rancheria. In Papago, Kdka ("Clearing"). On the south- 
western side of Sierra de Santa Rosa (east of Sonoita). Aban- 
doned fifteen years ago. 

Carricito, Rancheria. In Papago, Vapktjuutshk ("Where the reeds 
stand." Vapk, reed; tjilutshk, upright, standing). Near Rancho 
de Macias, toward the boundary line. Nine families; the men 
seek work in the Campana gold mine. 

Charco de Chavarria, Summer Rancheria. In Papago, Kdvoit 
("Badger's Field." Kav, badger; ditak, field, milpa). Four leagues 
east of Sonoita. Papagoes used to live here formerly, and in the 
last four years a couple of families are again occupying the country. 

Charco de la Mujer, Rancheria. In Papago, Ofviavdoka ("Woman's 
Pond." 0/i;z, woman; i;o, pond). Two leagues north north-east 
of La Nariz, r. People from La Nariz visit it for the sake of ob- 
taining water for the cattle. Otherwise it appears abandoned. 

Chujubabi, Rancheria. In Papago, Tshuhuvaxia ("Cave Well." 
Tshuhu, cave; vdxia, well, waterhole, also spring). Four leagues 
south-east of Quitovac. It is inhabited by three or four families. 

Cdbota, Rancheria. In Papago, Kdvortk ("Hollow in the ground"). 
It is on the west side of the peak of Cobota, about eight miles 
south-east of Cerro de la Lesna, and four miles south of the boun- 
dary. Ten families live here. When the water is consumed they 
go to Tecolote, s., Arizona, where they have fields. 

Comobabi, Rancheria. For interpretation see Comobabi, Arizona. It is six 
leagues east south-east of Cobota. More than ten families live here. 



390 APPENDIX II 

Coyote, Summer Rancheria. In Papago, Panvaxia ("Coyote Well." 
Pan, coyote; vdxia, well, waterhole, also spring). A small 
rancheria, north of Tajitos mine (about twenty-five miles north of 
Caborca). Water is procured by digging holes in the river bed. 

Cubabi, Rancheria. In Papago, Kovaxia ("Hidden Well." Ko, 
cover; vdxia, well, waterhole, also spring). Near the Sierra de 
Cobota, four leagues north of Plomo, mining town. Eight to ten 
families. 

Cubo, Mexican ranches, formerly Papago rancheria. In Papago, 
Kuvo ("Big Pond." Ku, big; vo, pond). Thirty miles north of 
Caborca. 

Cumaro, Rancheria, In Papago, probably, Komvaxta (Kom, tree with 
red berries, called by the Mexicans cumaro ; vdxia, well, waterhole, 
also spring). About eight leagues west of Sasabe custom-house 
and two leagues from the boundary. Four or five families live here. 

El Durasno, Rancheria, abandoned some time ago. Situated north of 
the mountain of the same name (north of Carricito, r.), at the foot 
of it. Water was brought from some pools in the mountain. 
Sons of those who lived there are still alive. 

El Picu, Rancheria. In Papago, Ookobonjik} ("Tears." Oak, tears; 
bdnjik^ is euphonistic, and does not mean anything by itself). 
Water comes up very sparingly, hence the name. It is about 
forty-five miles south south-west of Caborca and eight leagues 
west of Pozos de San Ignacio. Has been uninhabited for more 
than thirty years, though some Indians from Pozos de San Ignacio 
had a ranch here. 

El Tren. Abandoned mining village, formerly Papago rancheria, called, 
in Papago, Liima ("Whetting Stone." In another version the name 
Lin is a corruption of Trinidad and means nothing). Near Zoni. 
Placer mines were formerly worked here. 

Kikimikux, Summer Rancheria. "House Standing." {Ki, house; 
kux, standing, prominent.) It is less than one league east of 
Cumaro, r., There are ten families living here. 

La Espuma, Rancheria. In Papago, Tdtshaki ("Foam." Water 
makes foam in the hole when being excavated in the sand. Good 
water to drink). In the Sierra de la Espuma, south of La Nariz. 
It is inhabited only in the winter. 



APPENDIX II 391 

La Nariz, Rancheria. In Papago, Tdak ("Nose"). It is situated at 
the foot of the south-eastern promontory of the Sierra de la Nariz. 
Its profile resembles a nose, hence its name. In the winter usually 
fifteen families live here. At the time of my visit in November 
there vv^ere five families; some M^ere absent in Represa de Enrique, 
others vrere V7orking for the Americans (agriculture) in Arizona, 
There is a dam here made by Mexicans, American citizens, who 
are trying to drive the Indians away. 

Lesna Vieja, Rancheria. In Papago, Kuktjuitakkux ("Palo Verde 
Standing." Kuktjuitak, palo verde; kux, standing, prominent). 
It is about three leagues north-east of Bajio de Evaristo, in the 
north-western part of the District of Altar, at the edge of the 
basin. Abandoned about twelve years ago. Ruins of huts and 
a broken dam can still be seen. 

Llano de Juan Ramon, Summer Rancheria. In Papago, KdkauUvo 
(Kokauli, a bush called in Spanish garamhullo ; vo, pond. "Pond 
among garambullo Bushes"). It is one league south-east of 
Garambullo ranch. Has been abandoned probably fifty years. 

Onak, Rancheria. Pronounced Sdnak in Bisani ("Where there is salt." 
On, salt). Twelve leagues south-west of Caborca; three leagues 
west of Pozo Prieto (abandoned r.). Abandoned in the present 
generation. Mexicans had here formerly gold and silver mining 
by arrastras. 

Oquitoa, Mexican Pueblo, formerly rancheria. In Papago, Hdkito 
("Boundary Limit"). Two leagues north-east of Altar, on the 
Altar River. 

Pitiquito, Town on the Altar River, formerly a rancheria. In Papago, 
Piitskin, "Gone to Nothing." The name alludes to the annihila- 
tion of both parties to a combat which is said to have taken place 
on a mountain near the present town. On account of the per- 
manency of water in this part of the river and the fertility of the 
plain, this locality is to-day of agricultural importance. There are 
four Papago families here, who work for the Mexicans. 

Pozo Grande, Rancheria. In Papago, Kuvaxia ("Big Well." Ku, 
big> large; vaxia, well, waterhole, spring). It is near the south- 
western point of Cerro del Viejo, ten leagues south of Caborca. 
Has been uninhabited for fifty to sixty years. 



392 APPENDIX II 

Pozo Morcneno, Rancherla, abandoned. Near the southern part of 
Sierra del Alamo. Twelve leagues south-west of Caborca, three 
leagues from Pozo Prieto (abandoned r.). 

Pozo Prieto or Agua Prieta, Rancheria. In Papago, ^Tjukshootak 
("Black Water." ^Tjuk, black; shdotak, water). Near the foot- 
hills of Sierra del Viejo, two leagues from Pozo Grande. Papagoes 
from Bisani visit it every year, but it is more or less abandoned. 

Pozo Verde, Rancheria. In Papago, Tjuitakvaxia ("Green Well." 
Tjiiitak, green (also stjiiitak); vdxia, well, waterhole, spring). 
The name is derived from a fine spring at the foot of the Babo- 
quivari Range, about a mile south of the boundary line, and a 
few miles west of Sasabe custom-house. The largest rancheria in 
Sonora. Twenty-five to thirty families are said to live here. 
There is a general here in charge of all the Papagoes of Sonora. 
The place is of importance in the mythology of the tribe. 

Pozos de San Ignacio, Rancheria. In Papago, Tootavaipia ("White 
Waterholes." Toa or ^Tda, white; vdipia, plural of vdxia, 
waterhole, spring). The earth is white here, probably on ac- 
count of the presence of caliche. It is about twenty leagues south 
of Caborca. This rancheria was given up in 1907 after a brave 
fight with the rurales (Mexican police), of whom eighteen were 
killed, nearly all the Indians escaping with their belongings into 
Arizona. Many families were living here, sixteen persons being 
full-grown men. 

Quelele Quemado, Rancheria, In Papago, Kusitmohitatsh ("Burnt 
Carrion Hawk," Kusit, carrion hawk, with a yellowish throat). 
One to two leagues north of Lesna Vieja, r. Abandoned long 
ago. 

Quttovac, Rancheria, In Papago, Fapk or Fdketa, "Reeds" (Fapk is 
the name for reeds; they here grow in a swamp, produced by flow 
from the springs). An important place in the life of the tribe. 
Several fine springs at one locality furnish abundant water. There 
was once mining activity here. At present only the Indians occa- 
sionally "dry wash" the placer mines. Two or three Mexican 
families live here and there is a store. The Indians are fairly 
well-to-do, and in the winter as many as fifteen families may be 
found at Quitovac. 



APPENDIX II 393 

Represa de Enrique, Summer Rancheria. In Papago, Njuoport 
("Nighthawk"). It is situated in the fertile, long, broad valley 
leading west to Sonoita. Seven families have cattle here and own 
a large pond. They come from La Espuma, r. 

San Pedro, Rancheria. In Papago, Somuok ("Peak"). One league 
south-west of Coyote, r. Four families live here. 

Santo Domingo, Hacienda, formerly Papago rancheria. In Papago, 
Tjutshpa, "Pounding Stone." {Tjiltshpa, a rude stone vessel in 
which mezquite beans, mescal, etc., are pounded with a stone pestle; 
sometimes a hollow is made in the rock for the same purpose.) 
Seven miles west of Sonoita on the Sonoita River. A large tract 
of land was cultivated here by Mexicans, through irrigation from 
Sonoita River, but it has been abandoned for several years. No 
Indians live here any more. 

Saric, Mexican Pueblo, formerly rancheria. In Papago, Shdarik 
("Pass." Spanish, puerta). Five leagues from Pueblo Tubu- 
tama on the Altar River, near the boundary of the District of 
Magdalena. Some Papagoes live here. 

Sasabe, Mexican custom-house, formerly a rancheria. In Papago, 
Shdshovuk ("Echo"). 

Sonoita, Rancheria. In Papago, Kavortkson ("At the foot of the 
rounded hill." Kdvortk, rounded hill; son, in Sonoita pronounced 
shon, at the foot of, base). Sometimes the place is designated in 
an abbreviated manner as shon only, from which possibly the 
Spanish name Sonoita is derived. The oasis was originally called 
Sonoitag or Sonoidac. In the reprint of Ortega's "Apostolicas 
Afanes," Mexico, 1887, the name Sonoidag is attributed to the 
Indians. Speaking of Father Kino's journey in 1699, the nar- 
rator says: "They gave the name San Marcelo to a place which 
the natives call Sonoidag, a very favorable locality on account of 
Its lands, pasture, and abundant water" (libro 2, cap. 7, p. 340). 
The rancheria used to be near the beginning of the river, but the 
Indians have gradually been driven by the Mexicans lower down, 
occupying now a site one mile from the Mexican village of Sonoita. 
{See Akimuri.) 

Suvuk, Summer Rancheria. "Red." {See under "Camps of the Sand 
Papagoes or Areneiios.") 



394 APPENDIX II 

Tubutama, Mexican Pueblo, formerly rancheria. In Papago, 
Tjiivutam ("High Up"). Three leagues from Mexican pueblo 
Atil on the Altar River. 

Zoni, Mexican ranch, formerly Papago rancheria. In Papago, Shdne- 
kam ("Spring that never dries up"). Six miles from Rancho 
de Macias in north-western part of the District of Altar. The 
Campana mine pumps water from here. Formerly there was 
placer mining here. 

CAMPS OF THE SAND PAPAGOES OR ARENENOS 

These Papagoes formerly occupied the sandy country along the 
upper part of the Gulf of California, reaching from the lower Colorado 
River eastward as far as Santo Domingo, near Sonoita, and north- 
ward to Gila Range and Cabeza Prieta Range. Their head-quarters 
was the Pinacate region. 

Agua Dulce, Camp. In Papago, Ikuskaatsh (Ikus, piece of clothing; 
Spanish, trapo). West south-west of Quitovaquita, at a place 
where the river water appears again. A ranch was established 
here by a Mexican, but was later abandoned. Both here and at 
Agua Salada, three miles lower down, the Papagoes used to come 
in great numbers to hunt or to gather sahuaro, but no agriculture 
was ever undertaken. 

Agua Salada or La Salada, Camp. In Papago, Onokshootak ("Salt 
Water." Ono, salt; shdotak, water). Name of a certain part of 
the Sonoita River bed, south south-west of Quitovaquita. One 
and one-half miles further down is Los Pozitos, the name being 
derived from small wells that travellers make in the sand of the 
river-bed, to get water. Drinkable water may be procured in the 
same way at Agua Salada. 

Hdtunikat, Camp. "Sunset," "West." South of Pinacate, four miles 
west of Tinaja de los Chivos. This was the head-quarters of the 
sand people and, to employ a Mexican usage, may be termed a 
rancheria. Drinking water was brought from Los Chivos. An 
annual festival — dancing and singing — was given to procure rain 
and "make the grass grow." See page 228. 



APPENDIX II 395 

La Choya, Camp. In Papago, H anammetjurtivaxia {Hdnam, choya, 
a very spiny cactus of the opuntia genus which grows in abundance 
here; metjurti was interpreted to me as indicating "in," "near"; 
vdxia, well, waterhole, spring). South of Pinacate. This camp is 
a few yards from the beach, and fresh water is found in a hole that 
has been dug ten feet deep. 

Ldguna Prieta, Camp. In Papago, Vapk ("Reeds"). A salt lagoon 
west of Gila Range (Sierra de las Tinajas Altas). Abundance of 
fresh water found among the bulrushes on the marshy shore. 

La Soda, Camp. In Papago, Tjutjaka. South of Pinacate. This is 
a deposit of soda, ten miles east of Salina del Pinacate, and three 
miles from the sea. Fresh water is found by digging on the shore, 
as well as three miles west at a locality called Tule. 

Pozo del Caballo, Camp. In Papago, Hiatitvdxia ("Well of the Sand 
Dunes." Hia, Hiati, or Hiatit, sand dunes, sand; vdxia, well, a 
hole dug to reach water, also spring). This locality is about half- 
way between Salina del Pinacate and Salina Grande. It is a dif- 
ficult place to find, near some high sand dunes west of Estero del 
Tule. 

Salina del Pinacate, Camp. In Papago, Ono or On ("Salt"). Also 
called Kavonoka ("Badger's Salt." Kav, badger). A small de- 
posit of salt in a slough three miles from the coast, south-west of 
the Pinacate region. This is the principal place from which the 
Papagoes gather salt. Fresh water is found by digging on the 
shore. 

Salina Grande, Camp. In Papago, Murtegshdotak ("Running Water." 
Murteg, running; shdotak, water). A large salt deposit forty miles 
east of the mouth of Colorado River, three miles from the coast. 
On the flat, north-western shore are sixteen fresh-water springs. 

Sierra Blanca, Camps. In Papago, Tdakomalik ("White Mountain." 
Tda or ^Tda, white; kdmalik, mountain crest). A sierra south of 
Pinacate. A small water tank lasting three months is found near 
the north-east point on the east side, but the Indians had several 
camps, especially on the south side of the range. 

Sierra del Rosario, Camps. In Papago, Hiatikomalik ("Mountain 
Crest in the Sand." Hiati (also Hia or Hiatit), sand; kdmalik, 
mountain crest). A mountain range among the sand dunes 



396 APPENDIX II 

south of Gila Range (Sierra de las Tinajas Altas). Though far 
from water, there are many evidences of camping places here. 

Siwiik, Summer Rancheria. "Red." A hill near by has the same 
name. In the Pinacate region, five miles south-east of Tinajas de 
Emilia. There was some agriculture here, among the lava ridges. 
People came from Batamote to cultivate brown beans, white beans 
{tepari), maize, and squashes on a small scale. It is doubtful 
whether these can be considered sand people, probably not. 
Nearer the coast no attempt at agriculture was ever made. 
There is a tinaja near by called t'jiiumikux ("Where the pitahaya 
stands." Tjilmi, a kind of pitahaya cactus; kux, standing, promi- 
nent). 

Tinajas Altas, Camp. In Papago, Oovak ("Where arrows were shot." 
Oo, arrow). The name originates from a legend about two Indians 
who shot arrows from either side of the ridge. One did shoot 
across. Where the arrows of the other fell short the pools ap- 
peared. These well-known tinajas, eight in number, are in the 
southern part of the Gila Range (Sierra de las Tinajas Altas) that 
stretches from the neighborhood of Yuma south-east. It is on 
the old track from Caborca, over Sonoita, to Yuma. 

Tinaja de los Chivos, Camp. In Papago, Hotunikat ("Sunset," 
"West"). The Spanish name is the vulgar expression chivos 
(goats) for mountain-sheep. In the south-western part of Pina- 
cate. An important camp. There is a track leading from here 
to the former main camp of the sand people, called by the same 
name, Hotunikat. Another track leads over the mountains to 
Tinajas de Emilia. 

Tinaja de los Papagos, Camp. In Papago, Hitjuupo ("Urine Pool." 
Hi, urine; tjuupo, natural tank, water in rock cavity; Spanish, 
tinaja). The name alludes to imaginary spoliation by the de- 
parted. In the north-western part of Pinacate. In years of ordi- 
nary rainfall the three tinajas here furnish water all the year 
round. An important camp. 

Tinaja del Cuervo, Camp. In Papago, Havanikosh ("Raven's Nest." 
Hdvani, Raven (corvus cryptoleucus); kosh, nest). In the south- 
western part of Pinacate. This is a regular camp of the salt 
expeditions. Water can nearly always be depended upon here. 



APPENDIX II 397 

Tinajas de Emilia. In Papago, Moitjutjupo ("Many Pools." Moi, 
many; tjHupo, water in natural cavity of the rock, natural tank; in 
Spanish, tinaja). An important camp on the slope of Pinacate, 
south-east of Los Picos del Pinacate, in a straight line hardly 
two miles from the top. There are four large, natural tanks here, 
one of them fairly easy of access. In years of ordinary rainfall 
the water lasts here all the year round. 

Tinajas de la Cabeza Prieta, Camp. In Papago, ^T jukorndkamtjuupo 
("Black Head Pools." ^Tjuk, hlzck; mo, head; tjuupo, water in 
natural cavity of the rock, natural tank; in Spanish, tinaja). The 
Cabeza Prieta Range is east of Gila Range (Sierra de las Tinajas 
Altas). In the middle part, on the east side, is found a number 
of tinajas, one above the other, in a narrow gorge at the foot of 
the tallest top, from which the range derives its name. This must 
have been an important camp of the sand people, and certain old, 
crude stone heaps are found at the entrance to the gorge. (See 

P^g^ 324-) 

Tinaja del Tule, Camp. In Papago, Otoxakam ("Where there is 
Bulrush." Otoxak, bulrush (typha latifolia); in Spanish, tule). 
A well-known pool on the old trail from Caborca, over Sonoita, 
to Yuma, one day's journey east of Tinajas Altas. 

Tornillal, Camp. The name in Papago is slightly doubtful, but is 
probably Totshakshootaki ("Foam on the Water." Tdtshak, 
foam; shootak, water). Twenty-five miles from the mouth of 
Colorado River, fourteen miles west of Salina Grande, on the 
coast, one-quarter of a mile from the beach. Screwbean trees (in 
Spanish, tornillo) grow here, hence the name given to the locality 
by my guide. Water has to be dug for, and is brackish and bitter. 



APPENDIX III 

GEOLOGICAL SKETCH OF THE PAPAGUERIA 

BY CYRUS F. TOLMAN, PROFESSOR IN MINING AND GEOLOGY, UNIVER- 
SITY OF ARIZONA 

The two groups of formations most extensively developed in the 
Papagueria belong respectively to the most ancient of rocks and to those 
formed during geologically recent times — to the pre-Cambrian com- 
plex on the one hand and to the Tertiary-Quaternary group on the 
other. This great area has been studied only in spots by geologists, 
and therefore detailed knowledge of the formations is lacking, and 
they have not been matched up with those of other and better known 
portions of the country. As far as present knowledge goes, the older 
group consists of gneisses, schists, slates, crystalline limestones, and 
coarse grained granites — the granites and granite-gneisses being most 
abundantly developed in the south-western portion. The group of 
younger rocks is made up chiefly of extrusives; volcanics represented 
by andesites, rhyolites, rhyolite-tufFs, and basalts. These are men- 
tioned in the order of eruption as shown in the majority of localities. 
The most recent of the basalts, the extrusion of some of which may 
have continued into historic times, form in cases perfect volcanic cones, 
but the older lavas and most of the basalts appear as remnants of 
flows in fault blocks, or better as fault strips, these upturned blocks 
and strips forming many of the volcanic ranges. 

Less widely distributed than the two groups mentioned above, but 
important throughout the Arizona Copper Fields as ore carriers, are 
the Paleozoic Series of limestones and quartzites. These are found in 
the Papagueria in the eastern and southern ranges; for instance, in the 
Tucson Mountains, the Silverbell Mountains, the Sierrita Mountains, in 
the Vekol Mountains, in the Caborca Mountains, etc. In the southern 
Papagueria (Altar District) a Mesozoic age is suspected for the thin 
bedded limestones abundant in this area, but as far as known to the 

398 



APPENDIX III 399 

author the fossil collections necessary to determine this definitely have 
not as yet been made. Intrusive granites and porphyries, in general 
somewhat earlier than the flows, intrude all the earlier formations, and 
are responsible for most of the ore deposits of the region. 

Of the many interesting physiographic features of this area, the 
most striking is the commonly developed knife edge form of the moun- 
tains which protrude above, and are partly buried by, the detritus of 
the valleys. These mountain stumps are always chiselled into precip- 
itous slopes by wind and torrential action. The valley fill is largely 
subaerial, deposited by the withering torrents from the mountains, 
which rarely if ever reach the gulf, or brought up by the wind from the 
present and ancient strands of the gulf, and built into the extensive 
"medanos" described by Mr. Lumholtz. Only temporary incursions 
of the gulf up the valleys, in Miocene and later times, are suggested 
by the fossils collected by Mr. Lumholtz and others, and by the nu- 
merous abandoned shore lines of the Salton Sea to the west. 

The climate of this region has undoubtedly been dominantly arid 
during recent geological times (late Tertiary, Quaternary, and Recent 
Periods), as shown by the physiography of the country, the make-up 
of the desert fill, etc. Brief respites, however, due to increasing hu- 
midity, are suggested by numerous "dry lakes," at times filled with 
water, and more recent changes by the deserted Indian villages, far 
from any known surface water supply. 



INDEX 



Aalihihiani, children's cemetery, 
99-106. 

Abras, 17. 

Ahronia umhellata, 313. 

Adofi, 345. 

Adonde, near Wellton, "Sand-peo- 
ple" at, 332. 

Afterglow of the sun, 158. 

Agave americana, 4. 

Agriculture. See under names of coun- 
tries, places, peoples; e.g., Papagoes, 
agriculture. 

Agua Dulce camp, 196, 199-200, 
286. 

Agua Salada, 161, 200, 245, 281. 

Agustin, Papago Indian, his silver 
mine, 291, 329. 

Ajo, 81, 336. 

Ajo Mountains, 31, 162. 

Aktjin rancheria, 127, 129, 355; 
foot-races at, 75; singers from, 96. 

Alamo, 287. 

Algadones, 251. 

Algansea tincella, 174. 

Aloitak, singers from, 96. 

Altar, District of, 83, 184, 264; min- 
ing, 182; order and government in, 
177; prevalence of hydrophobia in, 
184; rancherias, alphabetical list 
of, 387-394; water supply, 264. 

Altar River, 16, 17, 18, 143, 146- 
147; village sites on, 335. 

Altar, Sonora, 31, 134, 135, 177, 200, 
258,261,334; description of town, 
144-145; ports near, 142. 

Alvina, Papago chief, 61-62, 79, 80, 
82. 

Ammomhroma sonorce, 319, 330. 

Amole, 34. 

Amphorbia polycarpa, 336. 



Ancient remains, 337, 340-343. See 
also Antiquities. 

Anekam rancheria, 69, 108, 355; 
singers from, 96; tattooing at, no. 

Anemonopsis calif ornica, 264. 

Animals. See fauna under names of 
countries and places; e. g., Mexico^ 
fauna. 

Animals subsisting without water, 
153. See also Water supply. 

Antigonon leptopus, 135. 

Antilocapra americana mexicana, 284. 

Antiquities, 143, 179-180, 335, 340- 
342. See also Ancient remains; 
Fortifications. 

Ants. See under names of cotintries 
and places, also 202, 335. 

Apaches, 24, 26, 29, 239, 291; bas- 
ketry, 353; fights with other Ind- 
ian tribes, 74, 359-362. 

Apache Tontos, 250, 252. 

Areneiios, 228, 231, 291, 299, 316, 
329-332; camps of, alphabetical 
list, 394-397- 

Argemone intermedia, 283. 

Arituaba range, Indian fortifications 
in, 142. 

Arizona, ancient artifacts and forti- 
fications in, 9, 41, 142, 143, 341- 
342; ants, 116; birds, 13-14; 
Black Hills of, 9; booms, 82; 
climate, 5, 18, 32-33, 38, 67-68, 
74, 78, 79, 109, 114-115, 343; 
fauna, 21-23, 71-72; 80, 112, 116; 
flora, 4, 10, 12, 14, 15, 19-21,34, 
37, 38, 45 /•» 72, 78, 80, 81, 100, 
130-13 1 ; Indian reservations, 6-9, 
337. 338-340; Indians, 9-10, 14- 
15, 16 ff., 332; Indian wars, 74; 
irrigation, 338; mineral wealth, 17; 



401 



402 



INDEX 



mining, 82, 83, 290; progress of, 
3; prohibition laws in, 9; rain- 
fall, 43, 79, 81, 114, 117-118, 127; 
rancherias in, alphabetical list, 
377~387; rattlesnakes, 117; rivers, 
5, 17-18; roads, 114, 127-128; 
school-buildings and hotels, in- 
appropriate to climate in, 343, 
347; scorpions, 117; storms, 79, 
86-87, 118-119; water supply, 
18/., 37. 72, III. 

Arizona, University of, 4-5, 32, 347. 

Arrow heads, flint, superstitions re- 
lating to. III, 180. 

Arroyos. See under names of countries 
and places. 

Atole bianco, 113, 351. 

Aztecs, 28. 

Baboquivari Range, 16, 33, 34, 39, 
41, 67, 123, 174, 357; arroyos in, 
41-42; caves in, 42; description 
of, 31-32. 

Badger, 22, 231. 

"Badger's Well" rancheria, 63. 

Baileya multiradiata, 313. 

Bajio del Alcalde ranch, 162. 

Baltarea, 247. 

Bancroft, 197. 

Bandelier, Ad. F., 6, 24, 29, 377. 

Barajita rancheria, 285, 355, 359. 

Basketry. See under names oj tribes, 
also Papagoes; Pimas. 

Bates's Well, 290. 

Beans. See Frijoles; depart. 

Beauclerk, Lord Osborne, 249-250. 

Beebe, Miss Emily, 204. 

Beloperone calif ornica, 207. 

Birds. See under names of countries 
and places. 

Bisani, 165. 

Bisnaga, 20. 

Black Hill Cemetery, 12. 

Bonancita, 150. 

Bonillas, Y. S., 158, 160, 234. 

Brandy, 9, 74, 75, 194, 195, 291. 

Brownell, Mr., store-keeper and 
mine-owner, 96. 



Bull-roarer, 88, 90, 95-96. 
Burden basket, 66, 68. 
Burros. See inider Mexico. 
Butcher-bird, 80. 

Cabeza Prieta Ranges, 197-198, 
220, 239, 291, 322, 323. 

Caborca, 142, 144, 177, 212, 245, 
258, 261; American filibusters in, 
147; ball games and races at, 74; 
church in, 146; diseases, 146; 
fighting at, 74; fortifications near, 
142; Indians in, 147, 148, 354; 
old mission of, 25, 146; sahuaro 
festival at, 147-148; town of, de- 
scription, 145^. 

Caborca-Yuma trail, 196-197, 200, 

237- 
Cacate rancheria, 355. 
Cacti, 10, II, 20, 21, 151-152, 188, 

276, 302, 310; providing drinking 

supply for animals, 152, 153, 154. 

See also Choyas; Sahuaro. 
Cajilon, 174. 
Cajon del Diablo, 197. 
California, agriculture, 9, 19; dis- 
covery of gold in, 176, 241; 

grooved stone axes in, 143; routes 

to. See Caborca-Yuma trail; South 

em Pacific Railroad. 
California, Gulf of, 16, 45, 198, 210, 

226; fishing, 257-258; flora, 319; 

Salinas, 163. See also Mexico, 

Salinas. 
California, Lower, Indians from, 

250; mountains in, 210, 258, 260. 
Camino del Diablo, 197. 
Camote of the medanos, 318-319. 

See also Sand-people. 
Campana gold mine, 157. 
Cara Colorada. See Pancho, El 

Doctor. 
Caravajales, Indian hermit, 231, 266, 

290. 333- 

Car do, 283. 

Cargador, 139. 

Casa Grande, 1 1 1 ; ancient ruins, pres- 
ervation and antiquitiesof, 3 40-3 42. 



INDEX 



403 



Castillo, Papago medicine-man, 

35-37- 
Catholic Missions, 5-6, 12, 24-25. 

See also under names of places; 

e. g., Caborca, mission of. 
Caves. See under names of countries 

and places. 
Cel adores, 164. 
Celaya, Alberto, Mexican driver, 

149, 212, 220, 236, 241, 275. 
Century plants, 4. 
Cereus giganteus, 10, 45. See also 

Cacti; Sahuaro. 
Cerro Colorado, 203. 
Cerro Pinto, 229, 311. 
Cerro Prieto, 142, 245. 
Change of climate. See under names 

of countries and places; e. g., Mexico. 
Children, cemetery, 99, 105, 107; 

sacrifice of, 100. 
Chireones ranch, 335. 
Chordeiles acutipennis texensis, 13. 
Choyas, 151-152, 188, 310, 334. 
Chujubabi, 269, 270. 
Cieneguilla placer mines, 182. 
Clemente, Papago interpreter, 149, 

212. 
Climate. See under names of countries 

and places; e. g., Arizona; Mexico. 
Cocopa Indians, 250-251; language 

of, vocabulary, 368-376; ranche- 

rias and customs of, 251. 
Cocospera, mission of, 146. 
Colonia Lerdo, 235, 248-250, 268, 289. 
Colorado, 24. 
Colorado River, 16, 18, 145, 177, 

182, 194, 197, 198, 212, 219, 226, 

235, 242, 244, 246, 248, 250, 251, 

287, 331. 
Comaru, 161. 
Comobabi rancheria, 65. 
Comobabi range, 27, 40, 41, 43, 86; 

Indians in, 27, 356. 
Condalia, desert bush, 34. 
Consumption. See under names of 

countries, places, peoples; e. g., 

Papago Indians, consumption 

among. 



Contact with whites, its effects. See 
under names of Indian tribes; see 
also Consumption; Diseases. 

Copper. See Minings 

Coyotes, 14, 156-157. 

Cozon gold fields, 150. 

Crabbe, Capt. H. A., American fili- 
buster, 147; defeat of, 74. 

Crater Elegante, 213-214, 234. 

Culiacan, Sinaloa, 135. 

Curing disease, 36, iii, 180, 184,264, 
335-336. 

Cyprinodon macularius, 175. 

Dancing. See under names of tribes; 

see also Festivals. 
Datura, 280. 
Day, Judge, 83. 
"Dead Old Man's Well" rancheria, 

85. 

Deer, 22-23. 

Desert Botanical Laboratory, in 
Tucson, 4, 5. 

Desert travels, cowardice of a Mexi- 
can attendant, 292-294; loyalty 
of Indian guides, 291-292; pro- 
visions, 287. See also under names 
of countries and places; e. g., Mex- 
ico. 

Dia de San Juan, 31. 

Diaz, Melchior, route of, 197. 

Diseases. See under names of coun- 
tries, places, and tribes. 

Dividing ranges, 16, 18, 83. 

Dolores, Father Kino's first mission 
in Sonora, 24. 

Dominguez Cipriano, 251, 252, 261. 

Donkeys. See Burros. 

Dosinia ponderosa, 256. 

Douglas, Arizona, travellers from, 292. 

Dowie, "Prophet," converts among 
the Papagoes, 39-40. 

"Dry farming," 19. 

Dry-washing gold, 183. See also 
Mining. 

Earth Magician Myths, 357-358. 

Echinocactus, 20. 



404 



INDEX 



El Boludo gold mine, 140, 144. 
El Capitan, 243-244, 247, 280. 
"Elder Brother" legends, 42, 48, 

192, 207-208, 357-358. 
El Doctor swamp, 254. 
El Durasno Mountain, 160. 
Eleodes, 227. 
El Paso, I, 2. 
El Pozo camp, 290, 292. 
El Tiro gold mine, 140. 
El Tren mining camp, 158. 
El Veit, 290. 
Encelia eriocephala, 244. 
Eticelia farinosa, 10. 
Ephedra, 215, 247. 
Espuma, 270. 
Estero del Tule, 265. 
Euphorbia polycarpa, 206. 

Fauna. See under names oj countries 

and places; e. g., Mexico, fauna; 

see also names of pariicualr animals. 
Festivals, Indian. See under names 

of countries, places, tribes. 
Filibusters, 147. 
Fishes. See under names of countries 

and places. 
Flora. See under names of countries 

and places, e. g., Mexico, flora; see 

also names of particular planus. 
Florence, on the Gila River, 123. 
Forbes, Prof. R. H., 31, 347. 
Fortifications. See under names of 

countries, places, tribes. 
Fort Yuma, 18. 
Fouquieria splendens, 302. 
Franciscan missions, 25. 
Fresnal rancheria, 32-33, 356. 
Frijoles, 25, 216. 

" Frog Doctor, " Papago rain song, 122. 
Fuerte de Montes Claros River, 182. 

Gaillard, Capt. D. D., 241. 
Galletal camp, 285. 
Galletal inlet, 218. 
Gambel's quail, 14. 
Games and races, 74, 75, 89, 149, 332, 
358, 359- 



Garambullo Ranch, 150, 153, 154. 

Garbanzos, 7. 

Geological formations, 17. See also 

398-399- 
Geological sketch of the Papagueria, 

398-399- 

Giant cactus. See Sahuaro. 

Gila Bend Reservation, 337; Ind- 
ians in, 355. 

Gila Crossing, 340. 

Gila Range, 45, 220, 229, 239, 280, 
302. 

Gila River, 5, 16, 18, 24, 25, 83, 143, 
162, 182, 269, 320, 337; Indians 
on, 123; missions on, 25, settle- 
ments, 338; reservation, 339; 
village sites, 342. 

Gold. See under names of countries 
and places; Mining. 

Golondrina, 206, 335-336. 

Gray, Col. Andrew B., 319. 

Gray, Dr. Asa, 319. 

Gray, Mrs. John, 237. 

Greasewood, 21; antiseptic and other 
useful properties of, 222-223. 

Growler Mountains, 16. 

Growler Well, 290, 332. 

Grus, 248. 

Guadalajara, 135. 

Guadalupe, Indian attendant, 187^., 
195, 269, 288, 295, 297, 325, 333. 

Guaymas, port, 135, 136. 

Guayule rubber, 12-13. 

Hacienda de Santo Domingo, 159, 

200. 
Hadrurus hirsutus, 117. 
Hardie River, 250. 
Hediondia, 223. See also Greasewood. 
Herba del Manso, 264. 
Herb a del Vaso, 10. 
Herba salada, 154. 
Hermosillo, capital of Sonora, 11, 

135, 136, 220. 
Hiatatk, 319. 

HiatitOotam, 329-332. SeeArenenos, 
Higuera, 147. 
Hoe, wooden. See Kiik. 



INDEX 



405 



Hohola Papagoes, 105. 

Hohola rancherias, 355. 

Holmes, Prof. W. A., quoted, 143. 

Hornaday, Dr. William T., 10. 

Horned lizard, 71-72. 

Hornitos, 150. 

Horseshoe mine, 83. 

Hotunikat, 329. 

Huichols, religious festivals of, 356. 

Hungary, "dry washing" machines 

from, 183. 
Hydrophobia, cure for, 184-185. 
Hymenoptera, 315. 
Hyptis, 204. 

IiTOi, myths of, 168, 171, 173, 202, 
203. See also Elder Brother. 

Indian Oasis, 81, 356; feasts at, 75; 
store at, 43, 79. 

Indians, 6-9, 14, 15, 250, 285; an- 
cient fortifications, 140-142; ceme- 
teries, 11-12; consumption among, 
339; cooking utensils, 7; customs, 
251, 253; salt-fetching customs, 
269-272; tribe hostilities, 251-252. 
See also names of separate tribes 
and under names of countries and 
places; e. g., Arizona, Indians; Pa- 
pagoes. 

Insects, 80, 227, 281, 316. 

International Boundary Commis- 
sion, 241, 304. 

Jacal, 8. 

Jack-rabbit mine, 31. 

Jesuit missions, 25, 197. 

Jojoba, nut-bush, 81. 

Jose Juan, medicine-man, 285, 290- 

291. 
Juan, Papago Indian, 91, 119, 125. 
Juanito, Papago Indian, 56, 62-63. 
Juarez mines, 182. 

Kansas, farming, 19. 

Kansas City, Mo., speculators in 

Mexican land from, 158. 
Kiik, Papago weeding implement, 

68-69, 341-342. 



Kino, Father, 24, 175, 341; map by, 

197; mission of, 138. 
Kitazawa, Dr. K., 118, 146. 
Kohatk Indians, 355; rancherias, 

alphabetical list of, 386-387. 
Kohatk rancheria, 11 1; relics near, 

341- 
Kokeloroti rancherias, 356. 
Koxikux rancheria, 356. 
Kuatshi. See Santa Rdsa rancheria. 
Kukomalik rancheria, iii, 355. 
Kuoitak rancheria, 79. 
Kvitatk, feast at, 75; singers from, 

Kvivo rancheria, singers from, 96. 

La chicharra, 205. 

La Choya camping-place, 276. 

La Cienega placer mine, 144. 

La Colonia, 251. 

Laguna Prieta, 235, 243, 244, 245, 
246, 279, 291. 

La Nariz rancheria, 161, 166, 169, 
174, 256, 270; fortifications near, 
142, 168. 

Lanius, 80. 

La Papaga gold mine, American pros- 
pectors at, 294. 

La pastor a, 283. 

La Plaza plain, 296. 

La Quemada, Zacatecas ruins of, 
142. 

Larrea tridentata, 21. See also Grease-' 
wood. 

La Salada, 256. 

La Soda, 269, 275-276, 

Laurel, 336. 

LaVentana hill, fortifications on, 41. 

La Ventana ranch, 335. 

Leupp, Mr., Indian commissioner, 

133- 
Level Ground Cemetery, 12. 

Levy, M. G., 81, 175. 
Llano Blanco rancheria, 335. 
Llanos. See under Mexico. 
Lopez, Clodomiro, guide, 220, 233, 

235, 241, 275, 279, 280, 285, 286, 

287, 303. 



4o6 



INDEX 



Lophorty.x gamheli, 14. 
Los Cerritos del Rio, 282. 
Los Picos del Pinacate, 20I. 
Los Positos, 200, 282, 286. 
Lunar rainbow, 180-181. 
Lyciurn, 218. 
Lydig, Mrs. David, 236. 

MacDougal, Dr. D. T., 11, 21. 
McGee, Prof. W. J., 142, 322. 
Magdalena, 137, 139, 142; fiesta of 

San Francisco in, 75. 
Magdalena, District of, burros in, 

200; description, 134. 
Magdalena River, village sites on, 

335- 

Maguey, 4. 

Maiz de los Yumas, 169. 

Maricopa Indians, 252, 338; dis- 
eases among, 339; statistics, 339; 
wars with Apaches, 74. 

Maricopa railroad station, drug store 
at, 338-339; Indians near, 355. 

Martynia, 353. 

Masks, 127; clowns, 93, 97, singers, 
94, 129-130. 

Medanos. See Sand-dunes. 

Medicine-lodges, 48, 49, 51-53, 57, 
106, 120, 166, 167, 172. 

Medicine-men. See under names of 
Indian tribes. 

Mescal, 4. 

Meteors, 159-160. 

Mexicans, fond of being photo- 
graphed, 132; rancherias of, 162; 
relations with Papagoes, 172; re- 
lations with Yaqui Indians, 136- 

137- 
Mexico, afterglow of the sun, 158; 
agriculture, 144-155, 176, 249, 254; 
American land-investors in, 159; 
burros, 200, 3 10-3 11, 317, 326; 
cattle-herds in, 244, 245, 249; 
"cattle that do not drink" in, 153; 
Chinese in, 137; climate, 169, 
189, 193-194, 201, 202, 205, 21 r, 
212, 214, 232, 238, 248, 256, 279, 
296, 306, 322, 324, 336; climate, 



change in, 17, 18, 180, 202, 232; 
custom-house inspectors, 164; 
early Spanish explorers, 143-144; 
fauna, 135, 156-157, 161, 162, 169, 
199, 205, 206, 210, 212, 213, 217, 
218, 219, 224, 231, 240, 245, 248, 
257, 265, 274, 277, 280, 283-284, 
295, 296, 297, 309, 316; filibusters 
in, 147; firewood in the desert, 
215; fishes, 174-175, 276; flora, 

134. 13s. 139. 147> ISI-IS2» 161, 
176, 188, 201, 204, 205, 207, 213- 
214, 215, 217, 218, 219, 221, 222- 
223, 224, 234, 236, 237, 238, 244, 
247, 248, 249, 251, 255, 256, 259, 

260, 264, 276, 277, 278, 280, 281, 
282, 283, 284, 286, 287, 295, 296, 
297> 302. 306, 309, 310, 311, 312, 
313, 316, 317, 318, 33^^331, 335- 
336; flour mills, 190; getting lost 
in, 303/-; gypsies, 140; hidden 
treasure hunting, 308; hospitality, 
288; Indian fortifications in, 140- 
141, 142, 168; Indian antiquities, 
179-180, 335; Indian remedies, 
335-336; Indian revolts, 175; In- 
dian wars, 74, 75; jack-rabbits, 
334; Japanese in, 137, 146, 178; 
llanos, 238, 247; lunar rainbow, 
180-181; mail-service, 149, 170; 
meat-eating, 287; medicinal plants, 
247, 264; meteors, 159-160; min- 
ing, 140, 144, 150, 161, 182-184, I97> 

261, 299, 300; missions, 175, 197, 
291; mountains, 160-162, 230, 236, 
237, 239, 242, 260, 301, 311, 315; 
mountain-sheep, 206, 210, 219-220, 
234, 240, 323; paleontological dis- 
coveries, 170-171; railroads, 135, 
136, 280; rainfall, 145, 166, 291; 
rancherias in, alphabetical list, 
387-397; refraction of sunlight, 
185-186, 232, 243; remedies, izi; 
rivers, 17; roads, 187; salinas, 
176, 254, 261, 265 jf.; see also 
under Salina; sand-dunes, 225- 
227; sand-people relics, 204, 217, 
316; soap manufacture, 200, 276; 



INDEX 



407 



soda deposits, 275-276; topog- 
raphy, 134; trails, 196, 237, 301, 
304, 305, 316; volcanoes, 201, 203, 
212, 213-214, 221, 232, 233-234, 
279, 296; water supply, 140, 146, 
147, 150, 161, 162, 163, 170, 198, 
199, 200, 204, 205, 225, 228, 231, 
23S» 237, 238, 241, 246, 252, 255- 
256, 258, 259, 262-264, 266, 286, 
302, 322. 

Mexico, City of, 28, 174. 

Mezquite trees, 14, 21, 78; spur made 
from, 63. 

Micropallas whitneyi, 22. 

Miguel, Papago Indian, 172. 

Milton, Jefferson, 42. 

Mimus, 231. 

Mineral wealth, 1 7. See also Mining. 

Mining. See under names of coun- 
triesy -places, and particular mines; 
e. g., Arizona, Mexico. 

Missions. See under names of coun- 
tries, places, tribes, and particular 
missions; see also Jesuits; Kino, 
Father. 

Mochomo, 335. 

Mohawk, 321. 

Mohawk Range, 220. 

Montezuma's Cave, 37, 42. 

Mountains. See under names of coun- 
tries and places; see also names of 
particular mountains. 

Mountain-sheep, 22, 280, 283-284, 
297-298. See also under Mexico. 

Myths and legends. See under Pa- 
pago Indians, Pinacate, Elder 
Brother, litoi. 

Nama stenophyllum, 283. 
Navaita festival, 48. 
Nevada, 17. 

Nidri, harvest custom among Papa- 
goes, 165. 
Nighthawks, courtship of, 13-14. 
Noche Buena, 251. 
Nogales, Sonora, 134, 234, 249. 
Noria rancheria festival, 48 ff., 86. 
Norias gold placer mine, 150. 



OcoTiLLO,2i,302. See also under Flora. 
(Enothera irichocalyx, 154, 236, 256, 

278, 312, 331. 
Ola, Papago woman's game, 89. 
Opata Indians, missions among, 25 
Opuntia fulgida, 151, 188, 334. 
Opuntia mamillata, 152. 
Oquitoa, Altar, 184. 
Ortega, Cipriano, 200, 321. 
Ortega, Santos, 150-151, 152, 154. 

Pablo, Jose Xavier, Papago at- 
tendant, 30/., 132-133' 345- 

Paleontological discoveries, 1 70-1 71. 

Palo fierro, 224-225, 280, 295. See 
also under Flora. 

Palo verde, 4, 21, 78. See also under 
Flora. 

Pancho, El Doctor, Papago attend- 
ant, 198, 293, 295, 298, 300, 311, 
314, 315, 318, 328. 

Papago Indians, 6-9, 10-12, 16/., 
32, 238, 291; agriculture, 25-27, 37, 
91, 164, 169, 330; character, 109, 
345; ancestors of, 341; appear- 
ance of, 27; ball games and races, 
7A, 75> I49» 358-359; basket- 
weaving, 23, 34, 57, 85, 120, 224, 
353-354; brandy-smuggling, 75; 
bull-roarer, 95-96; burial customs, 
II, 12, 127; cactus in life of, 47/.; 
calendar, jS; calendar record from 
1849 to 1908, 74-76; Catholic mis- 
sionaries among, 12, 24-25; cem- 
eteries, 64, 99-107, 169; chewing- 
gum used by, 10, 346; child birth 
and ceremonies, 350, 351; clown's 
outfit, 92, 93-94, 97; consumption 
among, 114, 346-347; cooking, 7, 
112, 113, 114, 131, 169, 216, 318, 
330-331, 334, costumes, 124, 331; 
courtship and marriage, 347, 348, 
349; customs, 10, 28, 58, 60, 84, 
324» 331. 346; dancing, 45, 54, 75» 
121; decorative art of, 342; dis- 
eases, 74, 75, 146, 178, 184, 185, 
329, 346^.; divisions of the tribe, 
354-356; Dowie missionaries 



4o8 



INDEX 



among, 39-40; drinking, 9, 57-58, 
123, 125, 148, 172, 195; dwellings, 
7-8, 77, 86-87, 91 > 165; effects of 
contact with white man, 9, 57, 70, 
112-114, 125, 346-347» 352, 354, 
364; Elder Brother legends, 42, 
48, 58, 168, 171, 207/., 355; fam- 
ily life, 84-85, 347-35-; festivals, 
43, 47/-» 55, 57/-, 60-61, 74, 75, 
92/., 119/-, 172, 229, 329, 356; 
fights with Apaches, 26, 74, 359- 
362; harvest custom of niari, 164- 
165; health, 344; history and origin, 
354; honesty of, 84; hospitality, 
165; hunting among, 34, 330, 332; 
hydrophobia, cure for, 184-185; 
implements, 57, 68-69, 7°, 87, 88, 
316; industries, 353-354; inter- 
mixture, 352, 353; Keeper of the 
Smoke, 52, 53, 56, 102; language, 
23-24; vocabulary of, 368-376; 
lodges, see Medicijie lodges; man- 
ners, 346; medicine-men, 33, 35- 
37, 49-50, 54, 55, 57, 74, 88, 97, 
166-167, 209; menstruation, 350; 
mining, 83-84, 100, 105, 182, 183, 
184; myths, 48, 58, 100, 105, 168, 
171, 202, 203, 240, 357-358; nurs- 
ing, 110; objections to being pho- 
tographed, 34-35, 61-62, 67, 70, 
71, 7S-JJ, 104-105; physical, men- 
tal, and moral characteristics, 27, 
344-345, 352; _ pottery, 8, 353; 
present conditions and prospects 
of, 28, 363-365; puberty cere- 
monies, 75, 350; rancherias, 25-26; 
alphabetical list of, 377-397; rem- 
edies, 184-185, 335-336; revolts 
of, 25; scorpion and snake-bite 
cures, 335-336; sham battles, 362- 
363; singers, 94-96; statistics, 
339; stores among, 43; supersti- 
tions, 35-37, 55, 58/., 106, III, 
140; tattooing, no; tobacco, 51, 
52; tortillas, 190; trade, 273, 332; 
war shields, 127; witchcraft, 24; 
woman's position in, 347-352; 
women's games, 89-90. 



Papagueria, ancient Implements in, 
341; boundaries, 16; climate, 18; 
fauna, 21-23; flora, 19-21; forti- 
fications in, 142; irrigation, 26; 
rancherias in, 25-28, 355-356. 

Papagueria, geological sketch of, 

398-399- 

Paso de Juana, 237. 

Pechita, 331. 

Pedro, Papago attendant, 295, 296, 
297, 298, 300, 311, 313, 314, 315, 
317, 320, 324, 327, 328-329. 

Pelon rancheria, 337. 

Philibertea linearis, 309. 

Physalis lohata, 283. 

Pike, Warburton, 249. 

Pima Indians, 23, 24, 338, 355; affa- 
bility of, 112; basketry, 340, 353; 
Catholic influence on, 112; cook- 
ing, 112; customs and character 
of, 339-340; decorative art of, 
342; festivals, 74, 75; fights with 
Apaches, 363; language of, vocab- 
ulary, 368-376; objections to being 
photographed, 112; rancherias, 
alphabetical list of, 386-387; re- 
volt of, 175; statistics, 339; trade 
with Papagoes, 273. 

Pimeria Alta, 16; revolt in, 25. 

Pinacate, 171, 181, 192, 194, 200, 
201, 205, 217, 220, 221, 225, 227, 
236, 290, 302; craters, 234; lava 
flow, 296; myths about, 202, 203, 
357; Papagoes in, 329; prospect- 
ing in, 321; sacred cave, 199, 207/. 

Pinacate beetles, 227. 

Pinta pan, 205. 

Pitahaya fruit, 46, 80. 

Pitiquito, 145, 146, 184; Indian relics," 

335- 
Piukvaotam, Papago Indian, Sj. 

Plantago fastigiata, 283. 

Plants. See flora, under names of 

countries and places; e. g., Mexico, 

flora. 
Pogonomyrmex barhatus, 335- 
Port Lobos, 45, 220. 
Potioptila, 309. 



INDEX 



409 



Pottery-making. See Papagoes. 

Pozo Blanco rancheria, 355. 

Pozo del Caballo, 266. 

Pozos, 262-263. 

Pozos Muchos rancheria, 355. 

Pozo Verde rancheria, 37,39, 356,359. 

Pozo Vicente, 251. 

Practising enclosure. See Fdaki. 

Presbyterian Mission School, Ari- 
zona, 30. 

Pronghorn antelopes, 284. 

Prosopis puhescens, 258. 

Provisions. See Desert travels. 

Pueblo Indians, 8; decorative art of, 
342; religious festivals, 356. 

Puerto de Libertad, fresh water at, 
258. 

QuELELE, Papago medicine-man, 
192^., 206-207; his prayer to 
litoi, 209. 

Quelite, 131, 134. 

Quijotoa Range, 41, 62, 79, 80, 174; 
Indians in, 27, 355; mining, 83; 
races near, 355; rancherias in, 85. 

Quiroz, Isauro, 160, 178, 192, 288, 289. 

Quitovac, 16, 148, 165, 166, 168, 169, 
170, 171, 174, 182, 185, 187, 193, 
195, 200, 269; festivals in, 93, 96, 
172, 229, 329; mining, 182, 183; 
Papago customs, 350; settlement 
of, 148. 

Quitovaquita, 198, 269, 286, 289, 
331; Indians, 332, 354; settle- 
ment, 198. 

Rabbits, 14. 

Rainbow, Papago Indian, 168. 

Rainfall. See under names of coun- 
tries and places; see also Water 
supply. 

Ramon Cachora, Papago family, 39- 
40. 

Rancherias, 25-26; alphabetical list 
of, 377~397- See also under names 
of countries and places and names 
of particular rancherias. 

Rancho de Macias, 159. 



Rattlesnakes, 117. 

Red Rock, Apaches' attack on, 74. 

Refraction of sunlight, 185-186, 232, 

243- 

Relics, 204, 217. 

Represa de Enrique rancheria, 163. 

Represa Ranch, 170. 

Revolts, 136-137. 

Rillito Salado River, 248. 

Rivers. See under names of coun- 
tries and places and names of par- 
ticular rivers. 

Robles Ranch, 131. 

Rodents, 22. 

Roskruge Range, 72. 

Rubber, 12. 

Ruiz, Priscilliano, 138. 

Russell, Frank, quoted, 360-361. 

Sacaton Reservation, hi, 339; 
festivals at, 74. 

Sahuaro, 10, 21, 135, 280; descrip- 
tion of, 45/.; feasts, 47/., 75, 
119 jf., 147-148; fruit-juice of, 
46, J7; wine, 32, 47, 48, 56-60, 
93, 120, 123, 125. 

Salina del Pinacate, 265 jf., 270, 273, 
276, 285. 

Salina de San Jorge, 163, 269-270. 

Salina Grande, 261; waterholes at, 
262-263. 

Salinas, 163, 261 ff., 265, 268, 269. 
See also names of particular salinas 
and under names of countries and 
places. 

Salitre, 176, 200, 254, 255. 

Salt expeditions, 99, 163, 218, 269- 
272, 285. See also Salinas. 

San Antonio gold mine, 182. 

Sand-dunes, 225-227, 236, 265, 
277/-» 299, 300. 

Sand Papagoes. See Arenefws; Hia- 
tit Ootam. 

San Francisco, fiesta of, 138 jf. 

San Francisco placer mine, 144. 

San Ignacio, 138; Indian fortifica- 
tions near, 142. 

San Luis, 150. 



4IO 



INDEX 



San Miguel rancheria, 38. 

San Pedro, Sonora, 123. 

San Pedro Martiro Mountain, 260. 

San Pedro settlement, 72. 

San Perfecto, 150. 

Santa Ana, 140; Indian fortifications 

near, 142; Indian wars at, 74. 
Santa Clara, "harbor of," 254-255. 
Santa Cruz River, 5, 17, 31, 143. 
Santa Rosa rancheria, gojf., 116^.; 

cemeteries, 99 ff-; festivals and 

races, 92, 109, 119^., 359; Keeper 

of the Smoke in, 106^. 
Santa Rosa valley, 174; basketry in, 

353; Indians, 27, 29, 355, 356; 

mounds in, 69; relics, 341; sham 

battles, 362. 
Santiago, Papago hunter, 34-35. 
Santo Domingo, 331. 
San Xavier, 9, 13; Apache attack on, 

74; cemeteries near, 11-12; feast 

at, 75; fortifications, 9-10; singers 

from, 96. 
San Xavier del Bac, Mission of, 5-6, 

San Xavier Range, Indians in, 356. 
Sasabe custom-house, 164. 
Sauceda rancheria, 355. 
Scorpion-bite cure, 335-336. 
Scorpions, 117. 
Screw-bean trees, 258, 259. 
Sepanovak rancheria, 39, 356. 
Seri Indians, missions among, 25. 
Sesbantia macrocarpa, 249. 
Sierra Blanca, 45, 220, 277-278, 279, 

280, 282, 285, 291, 302. 
Sierra de Cubabi, 162, 187, 220. 
Sierra del Alamo, 220. 
Sierra de la Manteca, 160. 
Sierra de la Nariz, 161. 
Sierra de Lechugilla; 301, 302, tlnaja 

\n, 235, 238-239. 
Sierra del Pozo, 201. 
Sierra del Rosario, 242-243, 260, 

263, 289, 311. 
Sierra del Tuseral, 199, 236. 
Sierra del Viejo, 220, 245, 300, 321. 
Sierra de San Francisco, 201, 281. 



Sierra de Santa Rosa, 161, 220. 

Sierra Entreada, 230. 

Sierra Extrafia, 230. 

Sierra Madre, 182. 

Sierra Nina, 237, 299, 300. 

Sierra Pinta, 281; mines, 182, 282. 

Sihu. See Elder Brother. 

Siilmok rancheria, 337. 

Sikulhimat rancheria, 83; singers 
from, 96. 

Silver. See Mining. 

Simon, Papago Indian, 92, 99^. 

Sinaloa, 182. 

Singers. See under names of coun- 
tries, places, tribes; e. g., Aktjin 
rancheria, si?igers from. 

Snake-bite cure, 335-336. 

Songs and singing, 50, 59, 70, 121, 
122, 123, 349. 

Sonoita, 16, 25, 41, 46, 143, 148, 159, 
160, 161, 164, 169, 170, 174, 176, 
187, 189, 192, 195, 196, 212, 235, 
269, 285, 286, 287, 289, 333, 334, 
336; ancient artifacts in, 143; 
mining, 182; missions in, 25, 175; 
order and government in, 177; pro- 
visions bought at, 1 89-191; ruins, 
175; settlement, 148, 162, 174/. 

Sonoita River, 17, 18, 32, 162, 197, 
198, 281-282, 286; fishes in, 174- 
175; sources and course of, 174, 
178-179. 

Sonora, 16, 19, 27, 29, 46, 134, 135; 
Apache attacks in, 74; festivals 
in, 75, 93; flora, 319; fortifications, 
142,168; gold in, 29; Indians, 123, 
136; mining, 83, 182, 183; peace 
and order in, 177; rancherias, al- 
phabetical list, 387-397; village 
sites, 342; water, 136. 

Sonora Desert, 11, 16, 136. 

Sosa, 276. 

Southern Pacific Railroad, 3, ill, 

196, 332, 343- 

Sphceralcea incana, 244, 283. 

Sphceralcea oruttii, 244. 

Storms. See Arizona; Change of cli- 
mate. 



INDEX 



411 



Suceda, 276. 
Suvuk, 330. 
Sykes, G., 233. 

Tajitos gold mine, 150. 

Tapia, Jose Y., 261. 

Tattooing, no. 

Tecolote . See Kokeloroti rancherias. 

Temporales, 169; agriculture at, 162, 

163. 
Tepari beans, 251, 287. 
Tesota rancheria, 337. 
Texas nighthawks, 13. 
"The Fortress," ancient village, 337. 
Thornber, Prof. J. J., 4.* 
Tinaja del Cuervo, 217, 218, 269, 

280, 286. 
Tinaja del Galletal, 218. 
Tinaja de los Chivos, 205, 228. 
Tinaja de los Papagoes, 228, 231- 

232, 29s, 296, 299, 301, 314, 322, 

325- 
Tinaja del Pinto, 218. 
Tinaja del Tule, 196, 228, 235, 237, 

322, 324. 
Tinaja del Tule camp, 196. 
Tinajas, 18, 217, 218, 220, 228, 235, 

237, 244, 245. See also names of 

particular tinajas. 
Tinajas Altas, 220, 235, 236, 239, 240, 

243, 245, 294, 299, 302, 304, 305, 

308, 317, 321, 326. 
Tinajas Altas camp, 197. 
Tinajas de Emilia, 204, 330. 
Tinajas de la Cabeza Prieta, 326. 
Tjeavolitak, foot-race at, 75. 
Tjiuvak rancheria, 85. 
Tjukutkokam Kikam. See Kokelo- 
roti rancherias. 
Tjuupo rancheria, 355. 
Toji, medicinal plant, 221. 
Tolman, Prof. Cyrus F., Geological 

Sketch of the Papagueria by, 

398-399. 
Tordillo Mountains, 239. 



Tornillos, 258. 

Tortillas, 190. 

Totokvan rancherias, 356. 

Tourney, Professor, 18. 

Tovoso, resinous bush, 81. 

Trincheras village, 140, 142; an- 
cient fortifications of, 140-143. 

Tuberculosis. See Consumption. 

Tucson, I, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18, 31, 
132, 183, 272; business and order 
in> 3~S> excavations near, 12; 
fortifications near, 142; Indians, 
16; plant life, 131; rainfall, 18. 

Tulares, 255. 

Typha latipholia, 246, 264. 

Unnatural vice, 352-353. 

Vaaki, ceremonial practising en- 
closure, lodge; the Casa Grande 
ruins is also thus named, 58, 97. 

Velasco, J. F., 26, 146, 182. 

Viikan Shootak pond, 32. 

Vikita, harvest feast, 92. 

Virginia creeper, 5. 

Volcanoes. See Mexico. 

Water supply. See under names of 
countries, places; e. g., Mexico^ 
water supply. 

White brittle bush, 10. 

White Mountain Apache school, 347. 

Yaqui Indians, 25, 26; diseases, 
146; feasts, 138; language, 137; 
mechanical ability, 137; mining, 
137; missions among, 25; rela- 
tions with Mexicans, 137. 

"Yellow Caterpillar" rancheria, 128, 
129. 

Yuma, 197, 251. See also Caborca- 
Yuma trail. 

Yuma Indians, 251, 332. 

Zoni, 158, 176. 



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